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PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



BEGINNERS IN FORESTRY, AGRICULTURAL STUDENTS, 

WOODLAND OWNERS, AND OTHERS DESIRING 

A GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE 

NATURE OF THE ART 



BY 



JOHN QIFFORD 



ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF FORESTRY, NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE 
OF FORESTRY, CORNELL UNIVERSITY 



WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS 







NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1902 



THE v'SFvARY »F 

CONGRESS, 

TWO COP;e8 RECEIVES 

MAY. 8 t902 

C0PVRI8HT ENTRY 

|CL.ASS a - / XXc. No. 

h I 1 * 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1902 
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 



• a * . 



,P*t1>lishea i $(*f}f c 1902 






PREFACE 



In the following pages the author has endeavored 
to include those parts of the science and art of for- 
estry which are of interest and importance to the 
general reader and beginner. It has been his en- 
deavor also to make this book as practical as possible, 
so that the owner of a large tract of woodland, and 
the farmer with his wood-lot, or the owner of a coun- 
try place, or those interested in the various indus- 
tries connected with forests and forest products, may 
glean hints of value. The greatest difficulty has been 
in deciding what to exclude rather than include. It 
is by no means easy to select from the great mass 
of technical and general literature on this subject 
those points which are of value and interest to the 
general reader, to the owners of woodland, and be- 
ginners in general. 

Beginning with Cotta, the father of forestry, nu- 
merous writers have expressed many of these facts be- 
fore, but the selection and arrangement of the contents 



VI PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

are original. As far as the writer knows, no author 
in English, or in fact in any language, has presented 
the subject in the following arrangement and in such 
untechnical and popular yet accurate form. For- 
estry, when shorn of pedantry, simplified, and di- 
vested of technical details of little importance at 
present to the American, falls readily into place by 
the side of the cognate arts of horticulture and agri- 
culture. The tendency on the part of European 
writers has been to amplify and extend the subject 
to the exhaustion of the merest detail, necessitating 
a long search through an immense amount of unim- 
portant and uninteresting matter in order to find the 
points of most importance. In fact, the science and 
art of forestry have been much encumbered with un- 
necessary mathematics. " Mathematics must be the 
servant and not the mistress of silviculture." The 
Europeans have produced a very complex and diffi- 
cult science out of one which is so simple that any 
man of ordinary intelligence may comprehend it. 

Progress in this country is founded upon public 
opinion. Public opinion is dependent upon the de- 
gree of intelligence and educational advantages of 
the general public. The best way to educate people 
in a subject of this kind is to supply them with re- 
liable literature written in plain language and avail- 
able at a reasonable price. The neglect of our forests 



PREFACE Vll 

is simply due to ignorance, which it is hoped this 
book may help to overcome. Whether it will be 
successful or not, time alone can determine. 

Forestry is both misunderstood and underrated 
in this country. When these misconceptions are dis- 
pelled the American people will handle the subject 
with true American spirit. The main point, which 
is not generally understood — in fact the pivot on 
which the whole subject rotates — is that we fail to 
rate the forest as a living perpetual resource. Coal, 
copper, and other resources become in time exhausted, 
but the forest if properly treated will yield an in- 
come forever. It will supply labor and feed other 
industries for all time if the rules of silviculture are 
rigidly practised. In agriculture, fertilizers must be 
used to replace what the plant removes; in forestry, 
the soil actually improves and yields ever-increasing 
returns until the maximum is reached, when under 
good management it remains the same for all time, 
ever yielding a crop of useful materials. 

No subject is of more general interest. It should 
appeal to everybody. It is a many-sided subject. 
To the man in search of health or recreation and 
sport, such as fishing and hunting, and to the lover of 
Nature, the forest has many attractions. As a yielder 
of useful materials, a support to many industries, and 
a supplier of healthful labor, it has no equal. To the 



vm PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

engineer it is of importance as a means of checking 
the destructive forces of Nature. 

The host of inquiries which the author has re- 
ceived and the expressions on the subject by promi- 
nent educators and foresters have led him to believe 
that there is a definite place for such a book. 

Although not primarily intended as a text-book, 
it may be advantageously used as a guide in secondary 
schools and other institutions where forestry deserves 
a place. It could be used to advantage in connection 
with commercial and physical geography. To the 
subject of Forest Geography there are four important 
sides, which have been treated more or less at length 
in this volume. The first relates to forest products 
and industries. This is an important branch of com- 
mercial geography with which every young man about 
to enter business life should be more or less familiar. 
The second relates to the influence the forest exerts 
in checking the destructive forces of Nature, the for- 
est being, in fact, a protective blanket over the face 
of the earth. The third relates to the distribution of 
forests. It deals with those factors which produce 
the spread of forests and the barriers which prevent 
their extension. It explains the presence of prairies 
and deserts in one place and forest-growth in another. 
The fourth, which should be of great interest to geo- 
graphical students, relates to our great reservations 



PREFACE ix 

and national parks. These reservations cover an area 
of about fifty million acres, a territory so large and 
varied that it is worthy some space in even primary 
geographies. They cover an area much larger than 
the whole of New England, three times as large as 
Greece, and almost five times as large as Switzerland; 
yet the establishment of these reservations has appar- 
ently only just begun. 

The author desires to thank Dr. Joseph Rothrock, 
Forestry Commissioner for Pennsylvania; Dr. B. E. 
Fernow, Director of the New York State College of 
Forestry; and Prof. W. W. Rowlee, Assistant Pro- 
fessor of Botany, Cornell University, for many sug- 
gestions and favors. 

Acknowledgments and thanks are due to Col. 
William F. Fox, Superintendent of Forests for the 
State of Xew York, Prof. Mark V. Slingerland, E. A. 
Sterling, and John C. Phillips for some of the photo- 
graphs used in this volume. 

If this book serves to convey practical informa- 
tion and to arouse interest in the subject through- 
out this country, and helps to produce a better treat- 
ment of our woodlands, its mission will have been 
fulfilled. 

John Giffokd. 
, Ithaca, K Y., January, 1002. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

Preface v 

PART I 
INTRODUCTORY 
I. Meaning of forest and forestry, and other 

INTRODUCTORY NOTES 1 

II. Wood-lots on farms, forest estates, and the 

RELATION OF SILVICULTURE TO THE KINDRED 
ARTS OF AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING 12 

III. The forest canopy, forest floor, and wood-mass 33 

IV. The forest as an agent in modifying the sur- 

face OF THE EARTH AND IN CHECKING THE 
DESTRUCTIVE FORCES OF NATURE. 

1. The forest as a soil-former .... 

2. The forest as a soil-improver 



3. The forest as a soil-fixer .... 

4. The forest as a flood-preventer and conservator 

of moisture 

5. The forest as a wind-break . . . . 

6. The forest as a beautifier of the earth 

7. The forest as a sanitary agent 
V. The geographical distribution of forests . 

1. Aids to forest extension .... 

2. Barriers to forest extension 

xi 



46 
46 
51 
56 



58 
63 
64 
65 

69 

74 
78 



Xll 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



CHAPTER PAKT II PAGE 

THE FORMATION AND TENDING OF 

FORESTS 

VI. The formation of forests . . . . . 91 

VII. The tending of forests 143 

1. Improvement cuttings 143 

2. Protection 150 



PART III 

THE INDUSTRIAL IMPORTANCE OF 

FORESTS 

VIII. Forest industries and products 

1. Utilization of forest refuse 

2. The lumber industry . 

3. Wood-pulp and cellulose 

4. Maple sugar and sirup 

5. Resin and turpentine . 

6. Tanning materials 

7. The destructive distillation of wood 

8. Other common forest products . 
IX. Forest trees and products of the tropics 



178 
178 
186 
198 
201 
204 
206 
207 
209 
211 



PAET IV 
SUPPLEMENTAR Y 
X. The principal Federal and State reservations . 226 

XI. A LIST OF FIFTY AMERICAN FOREST TREES, TWENTY- 
FIVE CONIFERS AND TWENTY-FIVE HARDWOODS . 252 

1. Conifers 252 

2. Hardwoods 262 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



A forest scene in Oregon 

A Southern pinery 

A fallen live oak covered with moss 

A swamp forest along the Ocklawaha River, Fla. 

A mangrove swamp on the coast of Florida . 

At work on a denuded mountain-top 

A road through a German forest 

A rocky region above timber-line in the Alps 

The desert of Utah 

A scene on our Western prairies 

Testing the quality of seeds .... 

Planting at Axton in the Adirondacks . 

Measuring with the calipers .... 

A corner in the nursery at Axton . 

Riding the logs in the Raquette River . 

A spruce forest in Germany which has been 

thinned 

Corner of a compartment in a French pinery 

A fire-lane in France 

A shifting sand-dune on the coast of New Jersey 
A prairie scene in Alberta, Assiniboia, Canada 
Binding sticks into fagots in France 
A coniferous forest in Maine . 
River-driving in the Adirondacks . 
,A lumber scene in Oregon 
A sugar-maple forest in Northern New York 
The flower of magnolia glauca 
Map showing reserves and national parks 



Frontispiece 



facing 



facing 



frequently 
facing 



facing 



facing 
facing 
facing 



facing 



PAGE 

26 
43 
49 
50 

58 

67 

78 

83 

84 

110 

136 

138 

140 

141 

144 
155 
158 
164 
170 
179 
185 
191 
195 
201 
210 
227 



XIV PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



PAGE 



The big trees of California 234 

White pine 253 

Norway spruce 256 

Douglas fir .258 

White oak 262 

Black walnut 266 

A shoot of Carolina poplar 272 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



PART I 

INTRODUCTORY 



CHAPTEE I 

MEANING OF FOKEST AND FORESTRY, AND OTHER INTRO- 
DUCTORY NOTES 

" The forest and water problems are perhaps the most vital 
internal questions of the United States." — President Roosevelt. 

Forestry treats of the formation, care, purpose, 
and utilization of forests. It is founded on the 
natural sciences, the most important of which to the 
forester is botany. Forestry is primarily an art, or 
the skilful application of knowledge gained from 
many years of experience and experimentation. The 
purpose of a forest may be to check the destructive 
forces of nature, to yield timber and other products, 
or to beautify the earth. The term utilization re- 
lates to the process of harvesting, converting, and dis- 
posing of forest products. A forest is something 
more than a mere clump of trees. It includes not 
only trees, but other plants and many animals which 
play parts of more or less importance for good or bad. 



2 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

A forest is a community or society of living things, 
the most important of which is the tree. The forest 
is a unit or organized whole consisting of three dis- 
tinct parts — the canopy, the floor, and the wood-mass. 
The forester speaks of an assemblage of trees as a 
stand. The stand may be young or old, good or bad, 
thin or crowded, mixed or pure, regular or irregular. 
A pure stand consists of one species of trees, a mixed 
stand of more than one. In a regular stand the trees 
are all about the same age and size. In an irregular 
stand there is no uniformity. The forest canopy and 
forest floor are interdependent. The forest canopy 
protects the forest floor, and, in turn, upon the vigor 
and healthfulness of the canopy depends the nature 
of the forest floor. Upon the quality of both de- 
pends the rate of growth, and upon the rate of growth 
depend the quality and quantity of wood production. 
Animals such as earthworms loosen and ventilate the 
soil; bees, in many instances, fertilize the flowers and 
thus increase the seed crop, and in consequence the 
number of young trees; toads, bats, birds, and other 
animals keep in check injurious insects ; and countless 
toadstools, pufTballs, and other fungi hasten the de- 
composition of the leaves and sticks on the forest 
floor. The forest is a mass of living, struggling or- 
ganisms. Hundreds of forces are at work for good or 
bad, to be restricted or favored by the forester for 



MEANING OF FOREST AND FORESTRY 3 

the production of such conditions that the forest 
may grow to the best advantage for the purpose 
intended. 

Forest-culture, forestry, and silviculture are prac- 
tically synonymous terms. The term " silva," in 
Latin, means forest, and in English is applied also 
to the forest-trees collectively of a region. We 
would say, for instance, that " the silva of the Pacific 
Coast consists mainly of conifers, or cone-bearing 
evergreen species, such as the redwood, pine, and 
spruce." The term " silva " is also applied to a 
descriptive list of the forest-trees of a particular 
region or country, as Sargent's Silva of North 
America. The term is in common use in the adjec- 
tive " silvan," in the term " silvas," which are large 
wooded areas in South America, and in the proper 
names Pennsylvania and Transylvania. The term 
" arboriculture," from the Latin " arbor," a tree, is 
applied to the growing of trees for any purpose and 
in any way whatever — singly, in groups, or in the 
form of forests. Silviculture is therefore a part of 
the broader art of arboriculture. 

Forests may be grown for other purposes than 
timber production, such as protection and adornment. 
Although, perhaps, the most important, wood is not 
the only important forest product. In the case of 
rubber or camphor, the wood is of minor importance. 



4 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

The growing of forests for timber is often called tim- 
ber-culture. This term has been extensively used in 
this country, especially in connection with the timber- 
culture acts of Congress, which granted land to the 
prairie settler on condition that he plant a specified 
portion of his tract in trees. These acts are no longer 
in force, but the term timber-culture is a good one 
for that part of silviculture in which timber produc- 
tion is the principal object. 

The terms timber and lumber are used in a pecul- 
iar way in this country. Lumber usually means sawn 
or hewn stuff in merchantable form and of the smaller 
dimensions. The term timber is applied to the for- 
est in the sense of standing timber, and to hewn or 
sawn stuff of the larger sizes, such as the timbers of 
a barn or of a ship. This use of the term lumber is 
peculiar to America. In Europe it refers to disused 
or discarded goods of any kind, and according to some 
authorities, is a modification of the word " Lombard," 
the Lombards having been in early times famous 
pawnbrokers. In England the words timber and 
wood goods are common. It is said that the American 
use of the word lumber originated in Boston, which 
was once a great lumber-port, because the lumber- 
merchants " lumbered " the wharves and streets of 
that city with their product. 

Another common Americanism which is loosely 



MEANING OF FOREST AND FORESTRY 5 

applied is the word sturnpage. It ordinarily means 
standing timber considered with reference to its 
amount and value for cutting, so called because the 
amount cut is ascertained by counting and measuring 
the stumps. 

A " virgin forest " is one in which there has been 
no cutting. It refers to natural and not planted for- 
ests. The term * second growth " is variously ap- 
plied, but usually refers to forests which are not 
virgin, and which have not been planted. 

The German term " forst," the French " foret," 
and the English " forest " have for many years im- 
plied care and protection. The removal of forests, 
without regard for their regeneration, is called de- 
forestation. The formation of forests on deforested 
areas is called reforestation. The French word " re- 
boisement," which means the same as reforestation, 
is sometimes used in English. The French " bois," 
the Spanish " bosque," the Italian " bosco'," the 
Dutch " bosche," the German " busch," and the 
English " bush " are probably all different forms of 
the same word. The term bush in the sense of woods 
is used in this country in the word " sugar-bush." 
A forest with undergrowth is called " the bush " in 
South Africa, Australia, and Canada. The term 
" scrub " is used in the same sense in Australia. A 
woods choked with underbrush is often called a " jun- 



6 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

gle." The term forest is seldom used by woodmen 
in this country. Good or bad, big trees or bushes, 
it is all called woods, which is a good generic name 
for such nondescript lands. 

The forester should always have in mind the 
future crop. He should cut always with a purpose 
other than the mere reaping of the wood. He 
should consider the young promising growth which 
becomes the forest of the future. The keynote of 
forestry is perpetuity. Were one to enter the forest 
and cut only the best trees each time and leave the 
rest, this would not be forestry even if the operation 
were conducted with great care. Were one to enter a 
forest and cut only those trees which are over a cer- 
tain diameter, this might and might not be forestry. 
If the forest consists of species of unequal value, the 
removal of the best would lead to the deterioration 
of the stand. The forest weeds or undesirable kinds 
of trees would be thus constantly favored. Although 
this is, perhaps, better than the common method of 
lumbering, it is like removing the ripe vegetables 
from a garden without disturbing the weeds. If 
there are no weeds in the garden, and no danger of 
weeds, this would be permissible. In forestry, one 
must have the future in mind, and the forester must 
work constantly for the proper maintenance of the 
soil and forest. If one has an irregular forest of 



MEANING OF FOREST AND FORESTRY 7 

spruce or pine, or any other species, or several species 
together, if they are of equal value, and then follows 
the rule of cutting only mature and undesirable trees, 
he would be practising forestry. By irregular forest 
is meant a forest consisting of trees of all ages. Were 
one to cut his forest clean, and plant it afresh, he 
would be practising forestry. Were one to cut his 
forest in such a way that sufficient seed trees will 
be left, and care for it in such a way that only de- 
sirable kinds will be allowed to grow, he would be 
practising forestry. In remote districts, however, a 
poor system is better than none, and in many instances 
our ideals must be sacrificed to meet existing con- 
ditions, so that if the forest is merely protected from 
fire much is accomplished. 

In India, for instance, where forestry is well un- 
der way, as much is done as we can hope to do for 
some time in this country. This is well expressed in 
the words of Eibbentrop in his Forestry in British 
India: "All we can, in the majority of cases, suc- 
ceed in doing, is to protect our forests as much as pos- 
sible against fire, grazing, and other harmful inter- 
ference, and to exploit them in such manner as to 
give natural reproduction the best possible chance, 
'and to assist the regeneration of the natural forests 
by such silvicultural measures as the circumstances 
of each case may demand." 



8 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

As Dr. Fernow says in his brochure on the Prog- 
ress of Forest Management in the Adirondacks, three 
primary essentials must form the basis of an Ameri- 
can system of forestry. They are as follows: 

I. Better protection of forest property, includ- 
ing methods of taxation — a subject for legislation. 

II. More thorough utilization of the forest crop 
— a subject of wood technology and development of 
means of transportation and harvesting. 

III. Silvicultural methods of harvesting, so as 
to produce a desirable new crop, or else artificial re- 
forestation, if that is more effective and cheaper — the 
main concern of forestry. These three phases of the 
subject will be treated more or less at length in the 
following chapters. 

In this country, owing to the great abundance of 
wood in times past, and owing to the difficulty of 
enforcing laws in thinly populated forest districts, 
the forest has been abused. This is so in most new 
countries, such as Canada) United States of America, 
and Australia. In speaking of the destruction of for- 
ests in Australia for the sake of pasturage, the his- 
torian Froude says : " Trees so matchless ought to be 
preserved, but the soil which bears them is valuable, 
and they are doomed to destruction. Government 
makes law, but in a democracy the people do just as 
they please. Greed and practise are master; the laws 



MEANING OF FOREST AND FORESTRY 9 

are only paper." This, no doubt, is in part true. 
It is, however, not the fault of the democratic form 
of government. It is due to the fact that the people 
which constitute it are not equal to it. After all, 
what is the State in America? It is simply an or- 
ganized community, the ruling powers of which are 
only persons which the people have chosen tempora- 
rily from their midst. The purchase of forest land, 
the management of forest land, or the sale of forest 
land depends upon what the majority of legislators 
may think best, and they, in turn, are supposed to 
comply with the wishes of the majority of their con- 
stituents. The wishes of the majority of the people 
in reference to the forest depend altogether upon 
their education and character — in short, public opin- 
ion, which is molded by our various means of educa- 
tion. 

Every honest, well-informed man who believes in 
government will agree that the State is doing nothing 
more than its duty when it does the following on the 
grounds that the forest is necessary, first, because of 
the protection which it affords, and, second, because 
of the industrial importance of the products which 
it yields: 

1. Each State should own and. control those dis- 
tricts where forestry can not be properly and profit- 
ably conducted by private parties. 



10 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

2. The Federal Government should lend a help- 
ing hand, and, in addition, own and control large 
reservations and parks in those parts of the country 
which are noted for their beauty or natural wonders, 
and which, for other reasons, are of more importance 
to the country as a whole or to a large area of the 
country than to the State or States in which they 
may happen to be located. 

3. Both the State and Federal Governments 
should cooperate with the private owner in many 
ways to inform him in reference to forestry matters, 
and to encourage and induce him to treat his forest 
land in the proper manner. 

4. This cooperation may be applied in several 
forms, the most important of which are the following : 

By the extinguishment and prevention of forest 
fires; by the construction of roads and fire-lanes; by 
the establishment of schools of forestry and chairs 
of forestry in agricultural colleges; by the estab- 
lishment of forestry experiment stations and model 
forests; by fair taxation; by giving information on 
the subject to all who may desire it; by the distribu- 
tion of literature on the subject; by the introduction 
of valuable species from foreign countries; by the 
establishment of seed-testing stations ; by the distribu- 
tion of seeds and young trees to those who will care 
for them ; by the establishment of lecture courses to 



MEANING OF FOREST AND FORESTRY 11 

the people in connection with agricultural and horti- 
cultural meetings; by aiding in the eradication of in- 
sect pests; by encouraging the preservation of bene- 
ficial animals, such as birds and toads, and by aiding 
all worthy associations and societies which may have 
these objects in view. 



CHAPTEE II 

WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS, FOREST ESTATES, AND THE RELA- 
TION OF SILVICULTURE TO THE KINDRED ARTS OF 
AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND LANDSCAPE GAR- 
DENING 

' ' The preservation of our forests is an imperative business 
necessity. We have come to see clearly that whatever destroys 
the forest, except to make way for agriculture, threatens our 
well-being. " — President Roosevelt. 

Silviculture, agriculture, and horticulture blend 
to such extent that separation by hard and fast lines 
is impossible. Although the spheres of each are 
fairly well-defined, they often overlap or are pur- 
posely combined with mutual advantage. Many 
claim that silviculture is a branch of agriculture, and 
that the main difference between the two is that an 
agricultural crop is available every year, while a 
wood-crop, although formed every year, is not avail- 
able until the trees reach merchantable size, which 
often covers a period of more than a century. 
Another difference, it is claimed, is that " culture " 
in agriculture implies stirring and loosening the soil, 
while in silviculture it merely means the bestowal of 

skilful labor on the forest in many ways, for the pur- 
12 



WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS 13 

pose of aiding and improving growth. These distinc- 
tions, however, are much more apparent than real. 
The fact that it often requires a century to produce a 
fine grade of timber does not imply that a forest, 
when planted, yields nothing until maturity. A 
spruce forest at first may consist of thousands of 
little trees per acre. At the end of ten years it should 
contain not more than 4,000 trees, at the end of 
twenty years 2,000, at the end of forty years 1,000, 
at the end of sixty years 500, at the end of eighty 
years 350, and at maturity (one hundred years) 250. 
Thus in ninety years fifteen-sixteenths of the number 
of trees and a large volume of wood have been re- 
moved from time to time by a careful system of thin- 
ning, yielding material of ever-increasing value as 
the forest grows older. In the case of irregular for- 
ests, which are forests consisting of trees of all ages 
mixed together, managed according to the selective 
system — that is, cutting here and there throughout 
the forest whenever trees are mature or whenever for 
the good of the forest their removal is prudent — an 
amount depending upon the size of the forest and the 
rate of growth may be cut every year, or every now 
and then. 

There may be, therefore, with forest as with agri- 
cultural crops a small but frequent yield. In the 
method of culture there is apparently a great differ- 



14 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ence, but the ends attained are practically the same. 
The farmer carefully tills the soil to pulverize and 
loosen it, and to prevent the growth of weeds. A 
layer of well-tilled soil on the surface and a mulch 
or layer of humus have practically the same effects. 
Instead of tilling the soil, the forester increases its 
moisture content and porosity by encouraging the 
formation of humus. The roots penetrate to deep 
layers of the soil for food material, much of which 
is deposited on the forest floor in the leaves, twigs, 
and wood. This material rots, and in rotting forms 
food for the roots. In this way the fertility of the 
forest soil is maintained, and, in fact, increased with- 
out the application of manure. Weeds are kept in 
check by regulating the quantity of light which filters 
through the forest canopy, and although there are 
weeds which endure shade, these are usually not 
aggressive. The growth of trees which have been 
planted in rows may be increased surprisingly by 
cultivation and application of manure, as with corn, 
especially in youth. In fact, in the tight soil of the 
Western plains cultivation is necessary until the 
trees reach such a size that their canopy prevents the 
growth of grass and protects the soil. By the 
" plains " is here meant the territory east of the 
one-hundredth meridian. West of this line, extend- 
ing to the Rocky Mountains, are the " prairies." 



WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS 15 

The treelessness of the plains is due mainly to the 
fineness of the soil, or to fire and grass, rather than 
to a lack of moisture. After trees are once well 
started in the plains district, by careful cultivation 
they grow almost as well, if not quite as well, as in 
Eastern regions. 

A crude kind of silviculture may be practised in 
all regions where wood will grow and where wood 
has value. Wherever measures are employed to in- 
sure the regeneration of the forest, there silviculture 
begins. The leaving of seed trees is the first step. 
The great difference between lumbering and forestry 
is that in one there is no concern whatever for the 
young growth and the future forest, in the other 
there are always other objects in view than the mere 
reaping of the wood-crop. Intensive systems of man- 
agement, however, belong to thickly populated agri- 
cultural districts. Silviculture is the consequence of 
agricultural and industrial development. Some of 
the most productive and best managed forests of the 
world belong to large cities. In a thickly populated 
country, more or less isolated from other countries, 
forestry pays well, even on good agricultural soil. 
Soils may be divided in this regard into three distinct 
classes : The first, those which are so rocky that agri- 
culture is impossible; second, such sandy soils as exist 
in vast quantities in our South, where forestry and 



16 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

agriculture may be combined, but where a large pro- 
portion of the area should be kept in forest; and, 
third, good soil, which is mainly agricultural, but 
where, in parts, forestry may be practised with profit. 
There are, then, absolute forest soils, soils mainly 
agricultural, and soils mainly forestal. 

True waste-lands include all those soils which are 
incapable of producing crops of any kind without 
reclamation. 

Saxony, in Germany, has an area of 1,499,300 
hectares (5,800 square miles), with a population of 
3,500,000 people, with an average of 603 per square 
mile; 27.4 per cent of this country is in forest, 
mostly spruce. The little trees are raised in nurser- 
ies, planted carefully, thinned from time to time, and 
finally, at the end of eighty years, cut clean. Then 
the area is planted again, and so on for centuries. 
This system of procedure is not essentially different 
from the production of an agricultural crop. The 
growing of willows for basketry is practically an an- 
nual agricultural crop. 

Several farmers in the plains district of our 
West have planted trees and reaped a handsome profit 
from fuel-wood and fence-posts in a few years, and 
have, at the same time, protected their orchards and 
produced fruit which would have been impossible 
without the shelter which the trees afforded. 



WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS 17 

Southern California has been completely changed 
in appearance by the planting of exotics, especially 
species of the genus Eucalyptus. This has been all 
due to the efforts of individual farmers. When the 
swampy lands of Gascony were reclaimed by tree 
culture, a new province was practically added to 
France. 

Many claim that individuals can not be expected 
to plant trees for timber, because life is too short, 
and the investment, which is increasing at a rapid 
pace by compound interest, is too long unavailable 
and too slow in producing returns. In the North, 
where growth is slow, this is, perhaps, so, but in the 
South merchantable timber can be produced in much 
less time. Short rotations, and by rotation is meant 
the length of time from planting to reaping the crop, 
bring forestry within the means of the farmer. It 
is true that the State should own those forest areas 
which are needed for protective purposes, but it is 
Government cooperation, as in road construction, that 
is needed, as much as State ownership or State con- 
trol. Let us hope for the time when our people will 
be educated to a point where they will care for their 
own forests as well as, if not better than, the State 
can ever do it, and with such willingness that coercion 
would be both unnecessary and pernicious. The 
more civilized people become the more they work 



18 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

for the good of the community and of posterity. 
Some day men may have the same interest in the 
landscape in general that they have in ornamenting 
their own homes. At any rate a very large propor- 
tion of our forests are destined to remain in private 
hands. The Government will be doing a very great 
deal, and infinitely more than it does at present, when 
it properly protects a man's person and property from 
the carelessness and maliciousness of others, when it 
taxes property in a fair manner, when it owns and 
controls those forests necessary for protective pur- 
poses, and when it gives to its people all the infor- 
mation, gratis, they may desire in reference to the 
management of their lands. The ill treatment of 
forest land is due very often to ignorance. In many 
cases the owner of the land knows no better. There 
is no more reason why a farmer should knowingly ill- 
treat or neglect his woods than his corn-field. Farm- 
ers in many parts of this country to-day could and 
would grow locust, poplar, chestnut, spruce, and 
other trees with profit if they knew how. The Bu- 
reau of Forestry at Washington is doing good work 
in encouraging individual efforts in this line. Every 
State, in fact, should have a division of forestry to 
investigate, experiment, inform, and advise all those 
who are in need of help. Merchantable white pine 
has grown in Pennsylvania on poor soil without man's 



WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS 19 

help in any way in thirty years. Large timber can 
not be produced in that length of time, but mer- 
chantable materials, such as are now used in the saw- 
mills of the Eastern United States, are often con- 
siderably under that age. 

The wood of some trees, such as white pine and 
walnut, must be old to be good; in others, such as 
hickory and locust, young wood is quite as good, if 
not preferable. 

Posts and poles which may be utilized on the farm 
can be produced in ten years. In Germany the spruce 
thinnings, which are peeled and then soaked in pre- 
servative solutions, are extensively used in fence con- 
struction. 

In the Old World forestry and agriculture are 
combined. It is very common in Germany and 
France to see a field of wheat and basket willows side 
by side. It is not uncommon to see potatoes and 
other crops between the rows of little trees, which 
are destined to form the future forest. Often the 
seeds of trees are sown with a crop of grain. The 
grain protects the young trees and pays for the cost 
of seed and soil preparation. In Trance, cuttings of 
poplars are stuck in the ground along streams and 
roads. In the course of a few years the side branches 
are cut off. These are tied into bundles and sold to 
bakers. They are in great demand, because they give 



20 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

a quick, hot fire, and produce a thick, rich crust on 
bread and pastry. In the course of about twenty 
years these poplars are cut and sawn by hand into 
boards, often by the very man who stuck the cuttings 
into the soil. The same is so of the willow through- 
out Europe, especially in the Low Countries, where 
the twigs yield fuel, withes for basketry, wood for 
sabots or wooden shoes, and all the while the roots 
are holding the soil in place along their boisterous 
rivers. 

In Italy, where there is an abundance of sunshine, 
the fields are planted with rows of trees, between 
which a crop of grain or potatoes is planted. These 
trees consist of olive, walnut, willow, poplar, and 
mulberry. They are extensively cut back or pol- 
larded, and serve as props to grape-vines. The willow 
yields twigs with which to tie the vines, and the lop- 
pings furnish fuel. The leaves of the mulberry fur- 
nish food for silkworms. The leaves are often pulled 
off and put in a silo in the ground to furnish fodder. 
Thus, an acre of land produces grain, olives, nuts, 
grapes, fuel, twine, wood for constructive purposes, 
and even fodder. 

As one moves southward, the possibilities of com- 
bining silviculture and agriculture increase, until, in 
fact, in many instances, it becomes a necessity. There 
is such an abundance of sunshine in the tropics that 



WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS 21 

many crops demand shade, so that forest-trees are 
used for shelter or nurse purposes. In the North, the 
light of the forest is transmitted through the tender 
leaves of the trees. In the tropics it is more or less re- 
flected from their shiny surfaces. One tree has been 
used so much to shade the chocolate that it is called 
" the mother of the chocolate.' 7 In Porto Rico and 
Mexico one could pass through a coffee plantation 
without knowing it. The coffee is planted in the 
shade of the forest, which has been thinned and 
cleaned. In Mexico a row of coffee- and a row of rub- 
ber-trees are planted. The rubber soon shades the 
coffee, and both are protected in early youth by a crop 
of cassava, bananas, or corn. The overwood, in many 
instances, could be a timber producer. In Java the 
teak is planted, and between the rows field crops are 
grown. The workmen, under a cooperative plan, 
are allowed the field produce by the Government, and 
a premium is given in proportion to the growth and 
prosperity of the teak-plants. This is an interesting 
cooperation, where the state owns the land and 
where the natives do the work and reap a reward 
proportionate to their efforts. Professor Knapp, in 
his report on the Agricultural Resources and Capa- 
bilities of Porto Rico, says : " One of the most seri- 
ous obstacles confronting the agriculturist in Porto 
Rico is the scarcity of timber and wood. . . . This 



22 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

scarcity of timber accounts for many things. It ren- 
ders it almost impossible to erect or maintain credit- 
able farm-buildings in the interior, especially where 
there are no good roads. It renders it necessary to 
construct the cottages of the laborers of bark and 
poles. It precludes the fencing of the farms into 
suitable fields for keeping the variety of stock best 
adapted to the conditions, and yielding the largest 
profits to the farmer." 

In Perigord, in France, forests of oak are planted 
for the truffles which grow upon their roots. The 
truffle is a fungus not unlike the potato in appear- 
ance. It is relished as a food, and, it is said, three 
million dollars' worth are annually exported. 

On the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, forestry 
and agriculture are combined in a praiseworthy fash- 
ion. The pine straw is carefully collected, spread 
evenly, and turned under, for the production of sweet 
potatoes. The absence of litter on the forest floor 
prevents fire, In the course of time old fields are 
abandoned and new fields cleared. Where were for- 
merly potato fields, young pines soon appear, and 
where were once fine forests are now potato fields. 

Even pasturage in the forest may be practised 
if properly conducted. A couple of cows in the 
woods would cause less damage than the same num- 
ber of deer. In fact, after the forest reaches an age 



WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS 23 

so that the trees are above the heads of the cattle, 
they may be of service in keeping down weeds. 

The maple sugar and sirup industry is truly a 
farmer's industry. In the Northeastern United States 
the maple-tree forms a very conspicuous proportion 
of the farmer's wood-lot. From the thinnings and 
trimmings he secures fuel, and in summer the cattle 
are permitted to enjoy its shade and feed upon the 
grasses and bushes which are abundant upon the for- 
est floor. The sugar-bush is usually an open forest 
in which there is a strong tendency toward brush and 
weedy growth. Cattle may often do good service in 
keeping it in check. 

The European farmer, by raising a few basket 
willows on his farm, provides work for a member 
of the family who has learned the trade of basket- 
weaving, and for another member who devotes him- 
self to selling the wares. Trunks, wagon-bodies, ham- 
pers, large urn-shaped baskets in which fish may be 
kept alive in the water, furniture, tike-nets, traps, 
poultry crates, and a host of useful objects are manu- 
factured from willow twigs. 

Unfortunately, a tree on a farm is too often a 

convenient place for tying horses. Into it nails are 

% too often driven. These become in time covered, 

and are found later embedded in the wood. The tree 

ordinarily serves as a place to rest old rails against, 



24 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

and to shelter old wagons and worn-out machinery. 
Trees in this way are seriously injured, and so riddled 
with iron that it is impossible to saw them into 
boards; in fact, unfit even for fuel, because of the 
injury to axes and saws in working them. Trees are 
too valuable to be used in this way. The life of a 
tree may be prolonged many years by giving it a little 
care. It is surprising the large number of trees which 
are thus thoughtlessly crippled or injured. 

Silviculture is of special importance to farmers 
for the following reasons: First, the forest yields 
fuel, wood for constructive purposes, litter, and other 
material of use to every farmer. Every now and then 
a farmer cuts a stick from his wood-lot for a fence- 
post, for a vine or tree prop, for an ax-handle or 
swingletree, as a matter of course. Were all the 
materials yielded by the wood-lot counted at their full 
value, I believe the wood-lot would be rated the most 
important feature of the farm. Tor a large portion 
of the year at least, wood is the common farm fuel. 
The fence problem is also an important one, and the 
farmer who produces his own fence material saves a 
very important outlay. The fences on a farm often 
represent a larger cash outlay than the land itself. 

Second, these materials, over and above what 
the farmer may need for home consumption, may be 
sold to good advantage. In that way he may earn 



WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS 25 

something when there is little else to do. In many 
instances fuel-wood is sold for about what it costs to 
cut and haul it. Although in such cases a man may 
get nothing for his wood, he gets paid for his work. 
The woods are a means to an end. 

Third, poor land on a farm may be used to bet- 
ter advantage for forest than for any other purpose. 
Even in very fertile districts there are few farms 
without some uncultivable land. Land which is ex- 
tremely dry or wet, or rocky or sandy, or land sub- 
ject to washing, should be used for forest. 

Fourth, a farmer is in position to make his for- 
est yield a larger income than any other kind of pro- 
prietor. Supervision costs him nothing. He works 
in his woods when he has little else to do. He has his 
own teams, and usually his own boys to do the work. 

Fifth, forestry and agricultural pursuits may 
often be combined, to the advantage of both. 

Sixth, the forest improves the quality of the soil. 

Seventh, the forest is a protection against the 
destructive forces of nature. 

Eighth, the forest adds variety and beauty to 
the landscape. 

Mnth, the presence of forests, by yielding use- 
ful materials, renders possible the presence of other 
industries. These are not only sawmills, but wood- 
alcohol establishments, pulp factories, box factories, 



26 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

kindling factories, and a host of small industries 
which thrive in the presence of an abundance of 
wood. 

The majority of people have a strong desire to 
possess land. There is a gratification or pleasure in 




A Southern Pinery. 
A scene near the Chefuncte River, La. 

mere. possession. It is in this way for a compara- 
tively small sum that a rich, busy man may secure 
seclusion and rest. Our forest lands have been man- 
gled to such extent by lumbermen that one must 
travel many miles from the centers of population 
to find the true wilderness. It will soon be so that 
every man must own a resort in order to secure 



WOOD-LOTS OX FARMS 2* 

the pleasures of the woods. The purchase of vast 
forest estates by wealthy men should be encouraged. 
The country is rendered more beautiful, and sur- 
rounding lands are in many ways benefited. Much 
of our waste mountain land must come ultimately 
either into the hands of the State or of wealthy per- 
sons. The influence of one large, well-cared-for es- 
tate is felt far beyond its boundaries. An example of 
this kind was set by Mr. Vanderbilt at Biltmore. 
Others have followed, and as time goes on they will 
increase in numbers. On each of these estates there 
is place for a well-trained forester who knows some- 
thing also of landscape art, of road construction, 
and surveying. In the British Isles and on the 
Continent of Europe there are thousands of such es- 
tates, many of which yield handsome returns in dol- 
lars and cents. The purchase of forest land is often 
practised for purely business reasons, in order to 
secure a permanent investment. It is, as Komero of 
Mexico once said: "Everywhere the world over the 
man who gets the lands and holds on to them is the 
wealthy man. Speculators and financiers come and 
go like bubbles on a river, but the landed proprietor 
keeps a permanent clinch on humanity." Two classes 
of proprietors are not worthy of consideration in this 
connection. First, the speculator who buys land to 
sell again without improving it, and, second, the man 



28 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

who buys land to strip it and then to desert it. We 
are only concerned with those persons who have per- 
manency in mind, those persons who own property 
in the country for the pleasure it affords them or 
for the income which it yields. For the sake of con- 
venience we may classify owners into, first, those who 
own farms with wood-lots, and, second, those who own 
large areas of forest and a small proportion of cul- 
tivated land. The latter may be called forest farms. 
Owners may be classified also according to purpose. 
The first includes all those cases where pleasure and 
not income is the controlling factor. In such cases 
there are legitimate returns, but they are not in the 
form of dollars and cents, and are difficult to meas- 
ure. In the second class, income in money is the 
controlling factor. 

Forests for pleasure may be usually divided into 
two classes: First, those which give pleasure because 
of their beauty, and, second, those which give pleas- 
ure because of the game which they contain. Al- 
though these two may be easily combined, the consti- 
tution of the forest must be modified for game. There 
is usually much difference between the form of an 
esthetic and a commercial forest. In a commercial 
forest the trees are often set in rows with mathemat- 
ical precision. It is the same throughout. A forest, 
to be beautiful, must be wild and varied. The plants 



WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS 29 

which constitute it must not be stiff and formal. It 
is, as Professor Bailey says, " Not plants which make 
a place attractive, but the arrangement of plants." 
Landscaping is the production of naturelike effects. 
The landscape must be full of variety, interest, 
and beauty. There must be nothing that shocks or 
jars our sensibilities. These shocks are usually pro- 
duced by man's interference, and can be remedied 
by the application of skill and money. There should 
be no sudden interruptions. If there are changes 
from one forest form into another, they should blend. 
There should be openings here and there in the for- 
est in the form of juicy, well-kept meadows, fringed 
with wild shrubbery. This shrubbery should give 
way gradually through several height stages to the 
high forest in the background. There should be open- 
ings, glades, and clean broad vistas here and there. 
Conifers should be sprinkled here and there with the 
hardwoods, and often in groups with a clean moss or 
leaf-covered floor. They give many shades of green 
in winter, and there should be a generous mixture 
of broad-leaved trees to give color in autumn. There 
should be no dead trunks, stubs, or stumps. The for- 
est should be irregular, and managed according to 
the selective system, which is described on another 
page. There should be as little coppice as possible. 
Mixed seedling growth is preferable. Kank coppice, 



30 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

sprouting from stumps, is seldom pleasing in appear- 
ance. Open groves and glades here and there are 
pleasant. Bold cliffs and rocks should be left bare, 
and the forest should be cut from places which may 
command broad views or beautiful vistas. 

Roads and paths should be abundant, to make the 
scenery accessible. These roads should have slight 
grades, and should wind round rather than cross over 
hills, wherever possible. The trees should arch over 
the road, and vistas from the road over valleys of 
foliage should be as frequent as possible. The roads 
should be well-rounded and well-ditched along the 
sides. Dirt roads, in most countries, are excellent 
where the drainage is well arranged. The bridges 
should be rustic, and rubbish should be removed 
from the ponds, springs, and streams. Now and then 
an artificial pond might enliven the landscape. There 
should be no bare embankments along the roads, and 
wild flowers should be encouraged to grow by the 
wayside. The types of wild vegetation should be 
studied so that each community may have its full 
complement of members. Every kind of soil depend- 
ing upon exposure, elevation, and moisture conditions 
has its community of individuals. If one or more is, 
by accident, missing, the group may be enlivened by 
additions from neighboring communities. In short, 
a very shabby landscape may become a beautiful scene 



WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS 31 

when the blemishes have been removed. Possibili- 
ties of improvement are of course fewer in some flat 
countries, especially those lacking streams and lakes. 

In regions where game is desired, the problem is 
simple, although its execution is difficult. There must 
be adequate fences, and much watching is often neces- 
sary to prevent trespassing and poaching. Those 
plants which yield food material for game and that 
composition which insures shelter in winter are neces- 
sary. The remorseless hunter and hound and other 
destructive agencies must be kept in check. 

In Europe the deer are practically domesticated, 
and feed, as do cows, without concern on the farmers' 
fields and along the wayside. 

From a business standpoint a forest may yield a 
revenue from the sale of hunting rights for specified 
lengths of time with restrictions as to the quantity 
killed and manner of killing. A revenue may be 
yielded by the sale of flesh or pelts. In many of our 
cold, out-of-the-way forest districts, the production 
of animals for their pelts may develop into a remu- 
nerative industry. Already on several islands in the 
neighborhood of Kacliak, the Alaska Commercial 
Company is exploiting the arctic blue fox with sue- 
cess. 

Many other subsidiary industries of a similar na- 
ture may be practised in connection with the forest 



32 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

which will not mar its beauty, but will add interest 
and help defray the cost of operation. Semi-wild 
turkeys are in high repute on such estates. They grow 
fat on the nuts of the forest, their meat is improved 
in flavor, and they help to keep in check injurious 
insects. 

In the forests of mild climates there is excellent 
opportunity for apiculture. The flowers of the lin- 
den, tulip-tree, eucalyptus, and other species yield 
honey in abundance, and of good quality, and the 
bees do good work in fertilizing the flowers. 

The collection of tree seeds, if properly con- 
ducted, should yield good returns. This is an im- 
portant industry in the Old World. The seeds of 
many species of American trees may be secured 
much more easily from trees growing in Europe than 
in this country. The seeds of some of our common- 
est species, such as the red pine of the North, are 
difficult to obtain in the market, and are very ex- 
pensive. 

In fact, even forests which are managed for their 
beauty and the pleasure which they afford, may, if 
properly exploited, yield something of value in dol- 
lars and cents. In this, however, as in everything 
else, more depends on the energy and ability of the 
man in control than upon the nature of the property 
itself. 



CHAPTEK III 

THE FOREST CANOPY FOREST FLOOR AND WOOD-MASS 

"The fundamental idea of forestry is the perpetuation of 
forests by use. Forest protection is not an end of itself ; it is a 
means to increase and sustain the resources of our country and 
the industries which depend upon them. "— President Roosevelt. 

The bole, or trunk of a tree, divides and sub- 
divides into branches and branchlets, which bear the 
leaves, flowers, and seeds. This upper portion of the 
tree which bears the leafage and inflorescence is called 
the crown. When growing singly, in the open, the 
crown is wide-spreading, often beginning on a level 
with the ground and extending upward in a more or 
less spherical or conical form to the tip of the tree. 
In such a tree the wood is proportionately large in 
quantity, but poor in quality, because of the presence 
of knots, due to the limbage on the full length of the 
trunk. Such a tree, although beautiful in form and 
well-fitted for park and landscape work, where adorn- 
ment is the controlling factor, is what the forester 
usually endeavors to avoid. 

As has been already explained, the single tree is 

not the unit with the forester. He deals with an 
3 33 



34 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

assemblage of trees, and his unit is at least a small 
group or hurst. For example, let us imagine an acre 
of land over which we have sown the seeds of pine. 
Let us imagine that these have germinated and grown 
so that the crown of every little tree has met the 
crowns of its neighbors. The thicker the trees the 
sooner will the branches of their crowns interlace, 
and there is then formed a canopy. As the little 
trees grow, there is a struggle for room. The weak- 
lings are unable to hold their own. The strongest 
push upward into the air in quest of light and room. 
Soon there are those which are dominant, and those 
which are suppressed and dying. The forester, by a 
careful system of thinning, endeavors to maintain a 
uniform canopy, so that it will rise in a zone grad- 
ually higher each year as growth proceeds. The 
density of the canopy is so carefully regulated that 
the number of trees in the forest is in due proportion 
to their size, so that the quality and quantity of wood 
are always in the highest degree. In order to produce 
a fine quality of wood, the shade must be regulated so 
that the lower branches are shed while still small in 
size as the canopy moves upward with the height 
growth of the trees. The ideal canopy is an unbroken 
whole — in fact, the forest on the acre referred tc is 
not unlike one great wide-spreading banyan tree with 
hundreds of trunks. In a rough, irregular forest there 



THE FOREST CANOPY 35 

are, of course, many interruptions in the canopy. 
As forestry is applied a more uniform canopy grad- 
ually develops. For example, a wide-spreading pri- 
meval tree, having reached maturity in the natural 
woods, is removed. In its place hundreds of seed- 
lings appear. These form a group or hurst, with a 
canopy. Several groups may often be united, or the 
same group extended to meet other groups by plant- 
ing, so that in time a uniform canopy may be devel- 
oped over a considerable area. 

Owing to the fact, however, that some species 
need less light than others, there is a strong tendency 
toward irregularity of canopy in mixed woods. Trees, 
in this respect, may be divided into three classes — 
light demanders, shade endurers, and shade demand- 
ers. The fact that some trees are shade demanders 
in youth and light demanders later adds to the diffi- 
culty in caring for woods in proportion to the nature 
and extent of the mixture. This relation of species 
to light causes a differentiation in the nature of the 
canopy. The canopy may become, therefore, com- 
pound or storied. On the top is that story of the 
canopy which belongs to the light demanders; next, 
the story which belongs to the shade endurers, and 
also, in the tropics, where light is abundant, a story 
of shade demanders. Nothing is more' important to 
the silviculturist than a knowledge of the light re- 



36 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

lationships of the various species with which he is 
dealing. On the control of the nature of the canopy 
depend the success and future condition of the forest. 
The canopy has several functions, the most im- 
portant of which is the fixation of carbon. The great 
bulk of the material which we call wood comes from 
the carbon-dioxid of the air. When wood is burnt, 
the part which burns comes from the atmosphere ; the 
rest, represented by the ashes, comes from the soil. 
The conversion of the carbon-dioxid of the air into 
starch is the work of the leaves and green twigs of 
the canopy. This is only accomplished in the pres- 
ence of sufficient light, warmth, and moisture. The 
moisture comes from the soil, and is supplied by the 
rootage of the forest. The second function of the 
canopy is in shading, protecting, and manuring the 
forest floor. By shading the forest floor in sufficient 
degree, the growth of weeds, especially light-demand- 
ing weeds, is prevented. The drying action of sun 
and wind is also prevented. The forest floor is pro- 
tected also against the leaching and pelting force of 
heavy rain. Regeneration, or the growth of young 
trees on the forest floor, is prevented until it is de- 
sired, and then it is accomplished by letting in the 
light which stimulates seed production by the mother- 
trees, and permits germination on the forest floor. 
One of the most important functions of the canopy, 



THE FOREST CANOPY 37 

however, is in furnishing each year a deposit of leaves 
and litter upon the forest floor. This disintegrates, 
enriches the soil, and thus hastens growth. It is in 
the canopy, and usually the upper part, where inflores- 
cence occurs, and a seed-crop is produced. This occurs 
usually at regular intervals, depending upon the spe- 
cies and the condition of the forest. These years 
are known as seed-years. 

An ideal forest consists of an evergreen conifer, 
such as the white pine, for an overwood, with a de- 
ciduous broad-leafed species, such as the beech, for an 
underwood. 

By the forest floor is meant not only the surface 
of the soil and surface covering, but also that part of 
the mineral soil which contains the rootage. Trees 
usually prefer a soft, well-drained, but moist mineral 
soil, on the surface of which there is a layer of de- 
composed litter, or leaf-mold. The formation of hu- 
mus, or leaf-mold, is called humification. It is a pro- 
cess of decay or disintegration in which soil fauna 
and fungi play a very important role. Nothing is 
of more importance to the forester than a knowledge 
of this process. Upon it soil fertility depends, and 
upon this depend the future forest and the amount 
of wood production. Besides furnishing food mate- 
rial, and especially nitrogen, which is essential to 
plant growth, the humus on the surface forms a 



38 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

mulch, which protects the mineral soil from the de- 
structive action of sun and wind. This humus must 
be of the proper nature, and must disintegrate in pro- 
portion to the amount of leaf and litter fall. It must 
not accumulate in immense masses, such as the peat 
or duff beds of the North, but must decompose into 
materials of such a nature that the roots may be con- 
stantly and regularly fed during the growing season. 
This decomposition depends upon warmth and mois- 
ture, but also, however, upon the bacteria and fungi, 
as well as animals, which live in the soil. A peat-bed 
in which these are not present is sour and unpro- 
ductive. 

The root-fibrils absorb the moisture of the soil in 
large quantities. This moisture passes through the 
tree and evaporates from the leaves. Water is the 
vehicle which carries the mineral materials which the 
tree requires in the process of growth. These min- 
eral matters are often in very dilute solution, so that 
the amount of water thus used is immense. In the 
process of food absorption by the root-fibrils the 
tree is often, if not in the majority of cases, aided by 
the fungi in the humus, which attach themselves to 
the roots. This is a sort of mutualism called sym- 
biosis. In the case of the alders and leguminous 
trees, nodules of bacteroids are much in evidence, 
while with the beech, spruce, and other trees the 



THE FOREST CANOPY 39 

mycelial hyphse of fungi in the form of fine filaments 
attach themselves to the root-fibrils of the tree, and 
in some way aid the processes of nutrition. Masses 
of united rootlets and fungal hyphse are called my- 
corrhiza. The edible portions of the subterranean 
fungus, called the truffle, are mycorrhiza attached to 
the roots of oak-trees. The materials absorbed by 
the roots, together with the substances elaborated by 
the leaf from the atmosphere, are manufactured by 
the protoplasm of the tree into more protoplasm and a 
host of other complex substances, but the most varied 
and most interesting, and the commonest of all, is 
wood, with which we are all familiar, and with which 
the forester is most concerned. 

Although there is considerable wood in the limb- 
age, the bulk of good material is, or should be, in 
the boles or trunks of the trees. Beginning with the 
outside of the tree, there is, first, the dead outer bark, 
then the living inner bark, then the sap-wood and 
heart-wood, and finally a little pith in the center. 
The wood of the tree may not always be divided into 
sap-wood and heart-wood. It is often homogeneous 
throughout. The increase in the size of the tree 
trunk is produced by the addition of layers of wood. 
The cambium tissue, which is a zone of active cells 
between wood and bark, proliferates or grows in such 
a way that as a layer of bark is formed on the outside, 



40 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

a layer of wood is formed on the inside. In parts of 
the tropics, where growth is constant and where noth- 
ing occurs to interfere with the continuity of growth, 
this process of wood formation is a continual perform- 
ance, and a wood is produced which is remarkably uni- 
form and homogeneous in nature, although I know 
of no wood entirely free from rings or grain. Where 
anything occurs in the way of frost, drought, fire, 
insect defoliation, or any other check on growth, it 
is recorded in the wood. In northern countries, 
where this check is sudden and where growth is 
wholly checked, a distinct ring, called the annual 
ring, is formed. In deciduous trees it corresponds 
with the periodicity of the leaf fall. In temperate 
regions and in the tropics, where there is a change 
of seasons, the annual ring is clearly marked; where 
the season of growth decidedly changes more than 
once in the course of a year, seasonal and not annual 
rings are produced. In cases in the north where the 
growth has been suddenly checked and then starts 
again, as would happen in case of severe drought 
or defoliation by insects, a so-called " false-ring " is 
produced. In fact, any change whatever which 
interferes with the activity of the tree modifies 
the amount and nature of wood production. The 
whole life history of a tree is accurately recorded in 
the rings of its trunk. Within the ring itself there 



THE FOREST CANOPY 41 

is often differentiation. This is usually in the form 
of spring and summer wood — spring wood on the 
inner side and summer wood on the outer edge. 
This is very distinct in our Southern pines. In 
many instances growth is so slow that the annual 
ring is hardly visible, while in other cases it may 
be an inch or more in width. The annual produc- 
tion of a ring or layer of wood is so uniform through- 
out the great wood-producing regions of the globe 
that foresters base their calculations upon it. The 
volume of wood which is added to the trunk each 
year is called the annual increment of the tree. The 
sum of the annual increments of all the trees on an 
acre gives the annual acre increment. This is difficult 
to calculate on an acre of very irregular mixed woods. 
At the same time a knowledge of the rate of growth 
is a very helpful guide, so that one may not inad- 
vertently cut the wood faster than it really grows. 
The average annual increment is the amount which 
one may cut each year without injury to the forest. 
The increment is the interest ; the growing stock, the 
capital. As the forest becomes more and more uni- 
form in nature, and as the conditions of growth are 
improved, the increment, or yield, increases until the 
forest approaches a normal state, and the yield or in- 
crement equals or approaches the possibility of the 
forest. Thereafter calculations are more uniform, 



42 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

and yields more certain and even in quantity. There 
is a qualitative as well as quantitative increment. Of 
the two, qualitative increment is often the more im- 
portant, because good wood sometimes sells at a rate 
out of all proportion to its bulk. We should strive 
to produce, therefore, not only a large quantity of 
wood, but the largest possible quantity of the choicest 
grade of wood. This can be done only by the closest 
attention to the rules of silviculture; but, as has been 
already stated in a previous chapter, practical limita- 
tions often hinder the merest approximation to our 
cherished ideals. 

The function of the woody trunk of a tree is 
mainly support. It forms an axis which supports the 
branches and branchlets, which, in turn, hold the 
working parts in the best positions in reference to 
light. In the open, it is irregular in form, short in 
stature, and often fortified by heavy buttresses. It 
is thus able to withstand heavy gales. In the forest, 
it is often a slender column bearing at its top a 
bouquet of foliage. It has no individuality. If left 
alone, without the support of its neighbors, it bends 
over, helpless, of its own weight. 

The trunks vary, of course, in size and form with 
every species, from the stunted Alpine spruce to the 
big trees of California and the karri (Eucalyptus 
diver sicol or) of Australia. 



THE FOREST CANOPY 



43 



Trees reach maturity and gradually die as do 
animals. Some may live five thousand or more years, 
others only a few years. As a tree grows older and 



&i£ 




A Fallen Live Oak covered with Moss. 
i 
larger, its points of attack grow larger in number. 

It offers each year a greater surface to the gales, and 

to other destructive agencies. Unlike animals, how- 



44 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ever, most trees may be perpetuated asexually by 
means of cuttings for a long period of time. A ban- 
yan may live on for centuries. The original trunk 
may die and disappear, but other trunks will take its 
place. In fact, constant wind blowing in one direc- 
tion may, in the course of centuries, cause a banyan- 
tree to move some distance from the place where the 
tree first started. There are chestnuts on the slopes 
of Mt. iEtna which bore fruit when Homer was a 
boy, and in Southern Mexico there is an old cypress 
which was probably twenty centuries old when Co- 
lumbus landed. Although a tree may live for ages, 
there is, from a forestry standpoint, a maturity to 
the forest. Careful measurements show that after 
a certain period in each species the average annual in- 
crement begins to decrease. When the amount of 
wood addition has reached its maximum the tree has 
reached its volume maturity. When the amount of 
wood which is added each year is no longer sufficient 
to pay interest on the capital invested, the tree has 
reached financial maturity. In the one instance every 
inch added to the diameter of a large tree, within 
certain limits of course, adds much to its value, be- 
cause old large wood is usually most desirable, while 
at the same time the interest is now accumulating 
at a fierce rate on the amount invested. I said above, 
" within certain limits,'' because the big trees of Cali- 



THE FOREST CANOPY 45 

fornia are really undesirable for lumber, because of 
their size and the great difficulty and expense attend- 
ing their exploitation. A tree is usually cut when it 
reaches merchantable size. Merchantable size de- 
pends upon the kind of wood, and the purpose for 
which it is intended. The time element and the 
danger to the capital involved worry the private 
owner to such extent that the tree is usually cut just 
as soon as it can be profitably utilized. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE FOREST AS AN AGENT IN MODIFYING THE SURFACE 
OF THE EARTH AND IN CHECKING THE DESTRUCTIVE 
FORCES OF NATURE 

" I regard the forest as a heritage given to us by nature, not 
for spoil or to devastate, but to be wisely used, reverently honored, 
and carefully maintained." — Baron Ferdinand von Mueller. 

1. The Forest as a Soil-Former 
Vast areas of fertile land consist almost exclu- 
sively of the detritus of the forest. Vegetable mat- 
ter, in the form of humus, resulting from the decom- 
position of the litter on the forest-floor, has formed 
in many places several feet in thickness. The acre- 
age of swamp-lands which have been formed in this 
way is immense. In addition to large patches of 
swamps here and there, there are many miles of 
swamp- or river-forest along our Southern rivers. 
The process of soil formation by the annual addition 
of vegetable matter may be seen to good advantage 
in the Dismal and Okeefeenokee swamps of our 
South. By digging through the vegetable accumu- 
lation of the Dismal Swamp for several feet, one 
46 



THE FOREST AS A SOIL-FORMER 47 

reaches sand containing shells. This indicates that 
the depression in which the swamp was formed was 
once an arm of the sea. It began, no doubt, as a 
salt-marsh; later a few trees, which could endure 
such conditions, found a foothold, and now it is cov- 
ered by a dense forest-growth of many species. Little 
by little the forest detritus has increased in thick- 
ness, until the swamp has reached an elevation higher 
than the surrounding land. In fact, elevated swamps 
are common in many parts of this country. A swamp 
is usually defined as a tract of land, with or without 
trees, lower than the surrounding country, and so 
saturated with water as to be unfit for cultivation. 
The term " swamp " in the South usually refers to a 
wooded region which is often higher than the sur- 
rounding land, and, when cleared and drained, forms 
excellent farm-land. 

The bald-cypress (Taxodium disticlium) is a won- 
derful tree in its ability to grow in water and mud. 
It is not preference on the part of the tree, however; 
it is endurance. It grows just as well, if not better, 
on the upland, but is able to endure these conditions 
better than other trees. All roots must have air, and 
this is provided in the case of the cypress by knees 
which extend upward above the surface of the water. 
In addition to forming soil by the fall of leaves and 
twigs, the roots collect sediment and flotage, and 



48 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

thus hold the soil in place against the action of the 
waves and currents. 

A remarkable land-former is the mangrove-tree 
(Rhizophora mangle), which grows in great abun- 
dance along the shores of tropical seas. The seeds of 
this tree germinate while still attached to the parent 
plant, and instead of the seed, a young plant falls to 
the water, and is washed hither and thither by the 
waves and currents until it finds a foothold on some 
coral reef. There it grows and spreads, and soon 
forms a swamp in which vegetable matter quickly 
accumulates. Yast areas of shallow water between 
the Cuban mainland and the Isle of Pines are being 
rapidly converted into swamp by the action of the 
mangrove. The Bahama Islands and Florida keys 
consist of hundreds of small islands and reefs which 
are fringed with tangled masses of mangrove. After 
the little plants become thoroughly fixed, the birds 
and currents bring seeds of other trees from distant 
shores. As with the cypress, the mangrove projects 
roots into the air for the purpose of securing oxygen. 
Thousands of square miles have been wrested from 
the sea by the marvelous activities of this tree. 

Soon after large quantities of organic matter 
have been collected in the meshes of the mangrove's 
roots, the coconut-palm, the fruits of which are car- 
ried long distances by ocean currents, finds a conge- 



THE FOREST AS A SOIL-FORMER 



49 



nial home. Southern oceans are dotted with little 
islands, fringed with green mangrove swamps, high 




A Swamp Forest along the Ocklawaha River in Florida. 

above which tower the coconut-palms. The establish- 
ment of the coconut means the possibility of human 
habitation. So many and varied are the products 
of the coconut-tree that, with the fruits of the sea, 

sufficient food material is afforded for the subsist- 
4 



50 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



ence of mankind. Besides yielding food and ma- 
terials for house construction, just in those places 
where fresh-water is the poorest and scarcest, the 
green nuts yield a cool, refreshing, and nutritious 
beverage. 




A Mangrove Swamp on the Coast of Florida. 

The process of land and soil formation through 
the aid of trees and forests is by no means confined 
to southern countries and southern forests. The wil- 
low, that Cinderella of trees, clothes with abundant 
green, low marshy places in northern districts, and in 
addition to holding the soil, yields pliant twigs which 



THE FOREST AS A SOIL-IMPROVER 51 

are extensively used in the manufacture of baskets 
and other wickerwork. 

Even in the cold bogs of the l^orth, the arbor-vitae 
is constantly aiding in the formation of soil. Many 
other trees and bushes are performing the same func- 
tion in almost all parts of the world. Examine care- 
fully a still pond in the woods, around the edges of 
which there is tree-growth. The bottom of the pond 
will be covered with a thick coating of leaves which 
have fallen into the water from the overhanging 
branches. 

Besides mechanically forcing their way through 
the crevices of rocks, the roots of trees secrete acid, 
and this, combined with the acids produced by the de- 
composition of organic matter, causes the disintegra- 
tion of rocks. In limestone regions the roots of trees 
dissolve their way through rock, and thus aid in the 
formation of soil. This may be seen to good advan- 
tage in coral districts, where the soil is thin, but 
where vegetation grows luxuriantly in the solid rock. 

2. The Eorest as a Soil-Improver 
The richness of a virgin soil is proverbial. In 
many parts of the world which have long been cul- 
tivated, the soil has lost its virginity. By virginity 
is meant freshness and richness due to an abundance 
of plant-food, and of humus or leaf -mold. Humus, in 



52 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

decomposing, furnishes materials upon which plants 
feed. A virgin forest-floor is fnll of nourishing plant- 
food. Humus forms a mulch or blanket over the sur- 
face which holds the soil and prevents leaching and 
washing. 

The nature of humus varies in different parts of 
the world. Its formation is dependent upon warmth 
and moisture, and is aided by various fungi which live 
in it, and by animals, such as earthworms, which 
ventilate and work it. In northern regions vegetable 
matter accumulates in the form of peat, and fails to 
decompose as rapidly as it forms because of the cold 
and absence of soil-fauna. In temperate regions it 
disintegrates much more rapidly, and in tropical dis- 
tricts, in the presence of sufficient moisture, the pro- 
cess of humiflcation is very rapid. In the forests of 
the northeastern United States the litter on the sur- 
face is called " duff." 

While the accumulation of such material protects 
the surface of the soil and holds moisture, trees will 
grow with more rapidity in regions such as exist in 
the tropics, where the humus disintegrates quickly, 
and constantly supplies the root system of the forest 
with a great abundance of the proper kind of food 
material. In dry and windy countries, and in woods 
where there is insufficient shade, the formation of 
humus is hindered. The litter is dried by the sun and 



THE FOREST AS A SOIL-IMPROVER 53 

wind, and fails, therefore, to form a mulch over the 
surface of the soil. 

In addition to serving as a protective blanket, this 
humus, in disintegrating, constantly furnishes min- 
eral food materials for the roots. A large part of 
this material has fallen upon the surface of the forest- 
floor in the form of leaves. Thus ingredients which 
wash into the deeper layers of the soil are brought 
again to the surface through the action of the forest. 
The best way to revive worn-out land is through the 
agency of forest-growth. The peasants of the Old 
World know well the manurial value of forest litter. 
Although the foresters protest against its removal, 
these peasants cling tenaciously to their old-time 
rights in this respect. Even in tropical countries 
where the land is very fertile, plantations are often 
abandoned, and fresh land cleared. Rob a soil of 
the humus it contains, and you rob it of its life and 
vigor. 

In the primeval woods trees mature and, after 
standing many years, fall to the ground and rot. Such 
woods are, in consequence, very irregular in nature, 
with gaps here and there, and with semi-decayed logs 
piled in every fashion, just as they happened to fall. 
In a well-cared-f or forest, the trees are cut at maturity 
and removed, and thinnings and cleanings are con- 
ducted so that the conditions of the forest-floor and 



54 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

canopy may be most conducive to soil betterment 
and rapid growth. 

The sandiest soil, the barest rock, and even shal-- 
low lagoons, if situated in a congenial climate, and 
not interfered with by mankind or other preventive 
agencies, will in time become fit for forest-growth. 
In the case of shallow lagoons, the work begins with 
aquatic plants of many sorts, which gradually cause 
the formation of soil. The water-hyacinth in many 
parts of the world, especially in Florida, has so 
clogged even the rivers that navigation has been 
seriously impeded. Swamps on the edges of shallow 
lakes and ponds are fringed by a zone of pioneer 
aquatic plants. On sandy soils and rocks the low 
lichens, mosses, and herbs first play their part; then 
bushes and shrubs; then the less exacting of trees, 
such as the pines; and finally, when the soil has 
reached sufficient depth and fertility, the climax for- 
est, consisting of rich hardwoods, such as oaks and 
beeches, with a few conifers, such as hemlock, is in 
time produced. By the excessive removal of forest 
litter and the reckless destruction of the forest by 
fire, the process is reversed. The work of centuries 
is quickly undone, and the soil is left in the form of 
sterile, shifting sand, or barren rock. Forests should 
be grown on poor soil, because it will be constantly 
improved under their influence. When agricultural 



THE FOREST AS A SOIL-IMPROVER 55 

land becomes worn out, it should be planted again in 
forest, and fresh land cleared. In this way, by a 
process of rotation similar to the rotation of crops 
in agriculture, the productivity of the soil may be 
constantly increased. The forest will return to the 
surface the inorganic materials which have eked away 
in the process of cultivation. In forestry, " rota- 
tion " usually means the length of time from the 
planting of the forest until it is cut. In agriculture, 
the term rotation implies alternation; that is, for ex- 
ample, corn one year, oats the following spring, then 
wheat with grass and then corn again. 

The fertility of a soil depends very largely upon 
its ability to hold moisture, and upon the presence of 
sufficient oxygen in the soil. The interstices or 
spaces between its granules must not be too large nor 
too small. When the interstices are too small the 
soil becomes hard, and the movement of water is 
impeded. This condition is ameliorated by the pres- 
ence of organic matter, and by the holes which are 
formed by decaying roots. When the soil is too 
coarse and open, humus serves to fill up the inter- 
stices. The organic matter in the soil acts as a wick, 
which, by capillarity, carries water downward when 
it exists in abundance on the surface, and upward 
when it exists in great abundance below. By the 
action of organic matter the particles of soil are 



56 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

corroded and comminuted, that is, diminished in 
size — a process which does not injure fine soils con- 
taining an abundance of humus, because by its pres- 
ence the proper degree of capillarity is assured, but 
which decidedly improves coarse soils by removing 
their greatest drawback, which is excessive porosity. 
In short, the presence of the proper kind of humus 
is a great benefaction to all grades of soils. * The 
greatest source of the best kind of humus is the hard- 
wood forest. 

3. The Forest as a Soil-Fixer 

One of the most important functions of the forest 
is the fixation of soil. The roots of the forest clasp 
and hold the soil in place, and the mulch and canopy 
of the forest protect it to such an extent that wind 
and water erosion are prevented. Erosion is the wear- 
ing away of rocks and soils by the action of both 
water and wind. 

In many parts of the world the wind blows the 
sand into shifting masses called dunes. In many in- 
stances, especially along the ocean, these shifting 
dunes have buried villages and fertile farm-lands. 
Dunes have been fixed or rendered stable by the plant- 
ing of forests. In Gascony, in the southwestern part 
of France, the sands from the ocean rendered vast 
areas desolate and uninhabitable. To-day they are 



THE FOREST AS A SOIL-FIXER 57 

covered with forests of pine. When the wind is light 
the drift of sand is unnoticeable, but during times of 
gale it becomes a biting sand-blast. In desert regions 
there is nothing to interrupt the force of the wind, 
and nothing to hold the soil in place. The sand is 
shifted here and there with every caprice of the wind, 
often in the form of dangerous sand-storms. 

Geologists reckon that the erosive action of water 
has been and still is one of the most potent of all 
agencies in modifying the nature of the earth's sur- 
face. In mountainous districts of many parts of the 
world huge gorges and gulches have been cut by the 
rush of water, and soil and debris in huge quantities 
have been dumped into the valleys. By maintaining 
the proper kind of forest cover, the soil, even on steep 
slopes, will remain in place. Koots grasp and hold 
the particles of soil, so that the whole mountainside is 
knitted together. The forest is the agent by means 
of which mankind may harness and control these un- 
ruly forces. Not only erosion but, in several parts 
of the world, owing to forest destruction, great land- 
slides have occurred, which have buried villages. 
Eocks, earth, and snow are held in place by a forest 
cover, and landslides and avalanches are thus pre- 
vented. In the Alps and Pyrenees, with the expen- 
diture of much labor, the loose rocks are cemented 
to the mountain-side, and the earth is held in place by 



58 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

wattlework or sticks woven between stakes to hold the 
soil in place until forests are started. Trees are ex- 
tensively planted along railroads, especially the locust 
and willow, to hold embankments; and the industri- 
ous Hollanders check the force of the great rivers of 
the Rhine delta by planting willows along their banks. 
The process of washing, which carries with it the 
most fertile part of the field, is strikingly visible on 
almost every hillside farm. Every stream in culti- 
vated regions is more or less discolored with mud 
which has washed from the fields. This can be pre- 
vented to a very great extent by preserving the forest 
in the proper places, especially on hilltops and steep 
slopes, and along streams. 

4. The Forest as a Flood-Preventer and Conser- 
vator of Moisture 

In studying the causes of floods, there are many 
factors which must be considered. The first is, of 
course, the nature and amount of rainfall. The sec- 
ond factor is the steepness of the sides of the col- 
lecting-basin; the third, the nature of the soil; the 
fourth, the condition of the surface cover of the 
collecting-basin; and the fifth, the shape of the 
collecting-basin. There are still other factors, such 
as the number of waterfalls or dams, time of the 
year, etc. 



THE FOREST AS A FLOOD-PREVENTER 59 

As to the influence which the forest exerts on the 
precipitation of moisture, there is considerable doubt. 
The extent of this influence is still merely a matter 
of opinion, and is, in short, a case of " not proven." 
It is safe to assume, however, that the forest mechan- 
ically increases the precipitation of moisture on high 
mountains and, to a less extent, in some lowlands. 
Where the forests are bathed by clouds and mists, 
large quantities of water are collected from the satu- 
rated atmosphere by the twigs, leaves, and limbs of 
trees and bushes. In many moist districts there is a 
constant drip of water from the branches, although it 
may not be actually raining. The larger the surface 
exposed, the more moisture is accumulated. The 
leafage, herbage, trunks, and branches of the forest 
offer a large surface on which it may accumulate. A 
forest on a high mountain, projecting into the clouds, 
draws from them large quantities of moisture, just as 
the wick of a lamp soaks up oil. The forest may have 
some influence on local showers, but in the case of 
general rainfall, its influence is so uncertain that it 
need not be rated in the consideration of floods. The 
forest is rather the result of rainfall, than rainfall the 
result of the forest. 

The most violent floods are due to sudden heavy 
downpours of rain in regions with circular-shaped and 
steep-sided collecting-basins. In regions where the 



60 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ground is level, and the soil porous, there is, of 
course, little danger from floods. 

In this connection we are especially concerned 
with the part played by the surface cover. We are 
also concerned with the collecting area, rather than 
the stream-bed, because the principal mass of water 
forms in the former. Here erosion also begins, im- 
perceptible at first, but soon resulting in an immense 
volume of water, descending on all sides into the 
channel course, and collecting in its rush rocks and 
debris of all kinds. This powerful mass, by under- 
mining the banks, receives constant additions, until 
the whole is dumped into the level plain, where the 
torrent emerges with diminished force. A torrent to 
be conquered must be attacked where its forces are 
scattered and easily controlled. The place to conquer 
it is in the hills of its source. The way to conquer it 
is through the agency of forest-growth. 

The flow of water is retarded by roots and litter 
of the forest-floor. Instead of rushing quickly into 
large branches forming deep gulches and gorges, it 
seeps into the soft forest soil and appears later in the 
form of springs. Much of it trickles by circuitous 
routes into larger branches, being impeded on every 
hand by the forest debris. "When the collecting area 
is covered with a dense forest-growth, the water 
which falls is therefore much more evenly distributed 



THE FOREST AS A FLOOD-PREYEXTER 61 

over the surface, the rapidity of the run-off is re- 
tarded, and the destructive influences are certainly 
lessened. 

The soil of bare regions is compacted by the beat- 
ing force of the rain. The water washes quickly over 
the surface, quickly forms torrents, and quickly 
causes washouts and destruction. The forest, by its 
shade, prevents the sudden melting of snows. A 
considerable portion of the rain which falls is inter- 
cepted by the branches of the forest, and evaporates 
before it reaches the soil. 

Vegetation uses an immense amount of water. 
This is absorbed by the roots and transpired by the 
leaves. The transpired amount varies with the spe- 
cies of the tree, the climate, and the condition of the 
soil. In many instances it is large in amount, but 
in winter, and at times when the atmosphere is very 
humid, it is slight. The amount transpired, as with 
the eucalyptus, is often so large that soils may be 
drained by planting trees. 

Although it is possible for floods to occur in re- 
gions which are forested, they are uncommon, and 
the damage is usually slight. Although the forest is 
only one factor in several which must be considered 
in connection with the flood question, it is neverthe- 
less an important one, as has been already proven 
to the satisfaction of the people in Europe, where 



62 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

floods have been produced by forest destruction, and 
where they have been lessened by the reboisement or 
reforestation of the mountains. 

A forest cover imparts regularity to the flow. 
Although the annual run-off may be the same in 
amount for the year from a forested or a deforested 
area, the flow from the forested area will be much 
more regular. There will be, in other words, less ex- 
tremely high and less extremely low water. This is, 
however, to industrial establishments which may be 
located along and dependent upon such a stream, a 
matter of great importance. 

The destructiveness of floods is due more to the 
nature of the debris which they carry with them, 
than to the amount of water. When they are gentle 
in nature, and loaded only with silt, they are often 
of advantage. In the case of the Nile, for instance, 
flood-time is a great benefaction, because it moistens 
and covers the soil with a layer of fine, fertile mud. 
The alluvial lands along our great rivers are extreme- 
ly fertile, because they are formed of fine soil and hu- 
mus which have been washed from the higher lands. 
It is not these mild, benign floods which need be 
feared, but the sudden gushings of mountain tor- 
rents, in the checking of which the forest exercises 
a very decided influence. Even freshets do good 
sometimes. The stream-bed is often thus cleared of 



THE FOREST AS A WIND-BREAK 63 

rubbish, and the water aerated to such extent that 
trout and other fish are benefited. This is of benefit, 
however, only in forested districts, where destructive 
erosion is prevented by the presence of trees. 

The effects produced by a forest cover are evident 
in the least degree as to the amount of water which 
flows off during the year; in a higher degree as to 
the rapidity of the flow-off; and in the greatest de- 
gree as to the amount of earth and debris which it 
carries with it. 

5. The Fokest as a Wind-Break 

All who have lived in windy countries know well 
the advantage of a wind-break. It affords a vast 
amount of comfort to man and beast. There is noth- 
ing more destructive to young succulent plants than 
a strong dry wind. In several of our Western States, 
a fine crop of grain may be ruined in a single day by 
a hot, dry wind. Every washerwoman knows the 
drying effects of a strong wind. It sucks up moisture 
from the soil, and beats and lashes crops in merciless 
fashion. Nothing is more wearisome than constant 
wind, and nothing is more efficient in checking it than 
belts of forests. 



64 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

6. The Forest as a Beautifier of the Earth 

It would be difficult to overrate the value of a 
well-kept forest as an adorner of the earth. In many 
places, especially in the neighborhood of great re- 
sorts, such as the White Mountains and the Adiron- 
dack^, the forest as a factor in attracting visitors is 
worth more in dollars and cents, many times over, 
than its value for lumber. The monotony of a desert 
or plain is wearisome. The ideal country is the one 
in which there is a proper mingling of well-kept for- 
ests and fields. If a hilly country, the farm-land be- 
longs in the fertile valleys, and the forests on the 
hillsides. An excellent example of such a happy com- 
bination is the Black Forest of Baden, a land of 
beautiful forests in the mountains, with carefully cul- 
tivated fields and irrigated meadows in the valleys. 
The great beauty and healthfulness of this region at- 
tract many tourists and invalids. The roads are ex- 
cellent and the towns frequent. Along the streams 
are many sawmills which are constantly working the 
well-earned increment into lumber. Men, women, 
and children find employment in the forest, on their 
farms, and in the various industrial establishments, 
many of which are dependent upon the products of 
the forest, or the power yielded by the forest streams. 
Compare this with a burnt-over, depleted woodland, 



THE FOREST AS A SANITARY AGENT 65 

with silent sawmills and stranded population. Such 
a land, although capable of producing useful wood- 
crops forever, is worn out in appearance, unproduc- 
tive, and unfit for human habitation. 

7. The Forest as a Sanitary Agent 

The importance of the forest as a sanitary agent 
is usually underrated. In affording a place where 
the busy brains of the world may find rest and diver- 
sion, the forest perforins a beneficial service to man- 
kind. It performs also a very important sanitary 
function in affording clear, pure water to large cities. 
Water, to be good in quality and regular in quantity, 
should come from an uninhabited forested watershed. 
Upon the purity of such water depends the healthful- 
ness of the millions of people who live in cities. 

Stagnant water and organisms of disease are rare 
in the forest. In the Dismal Swamp of Virginia, for 
instance, the water is healthful, while in the surround- 
ing burnt-over pine land, with here and there stag- 
nant pools of water, malaria is common. Malarial 
diseases follow in the wake of forest destruction. 
Clearing new land in many places causes malaria. 
It is the experience of travelers in tropical countries 
that fever is generally worse in the open districts. It 
is not in the forest but in the land inhabited by in- 
fected individuals that malaria is common. 



66 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

Before the planting of pine forests in the south- 
western part of France, the country was very un- 
healthy. To-day it is a health resort. In many dis- 
tricts, especially near Rome, the sanitary condition 
has been much improved by the planting of eucalyp- 
tus trees. 

Around dwellings trees prevent the spread of 
disease by arresting the dust. On the particles of 
dust the germs of disease are carried. The purity 
of forest air is proverbial. 

The following is from a paper by Mr. D. E. 
Hutchins, Conservator of Forests, Cape Town: 

" The prudent foreigner, looking across his 
wooded mountains, will tell you that England is rich, 
and can well afford to pay in the future for her pres- 
ent forest improvidence. There is more than this in 
the forest question, and, to my mind, it is quite the 
saddest aspect of it. 

" Great Britain now pays about £20,750,000 an- 
nually for imported wood and forest produce, that 
could be produced equally well in the British Isles. 
Broadly speaking, this wood is paid for by manufac- 
tured goods produced by the labor of the factory 
operative, that physically degraded type of humanity 
one sees in all big manufacturing towns. With the 
destruction of the forests in England have gone the 
stalwart men who once worked in them, to be re- 



THE FOREST AS A SANITARY AGENT 



67 



placed by the factory-hand — weak-lunged, knock- 
kneed, and sallow. One has only to travel through 
the forests of the continent of Europe, and then visit 
a few of the large manufacturing towns of England, 




A Road through a German Forest. 

to have this physical degeneration of the race brought 
home in the most forcible and unpleasant manner. 
The wood industries are mostly healthy (to a great ex- 
tent out-of-doors) occupations, and they usually em- 
ploy a robust country population, living partly on 
the forest and partly on their gardens and small 
agricultural allotments. But let us consider the one 
million people that in Germany live and labor in the 
forests. What a reserve of national strength ! They 



68 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

are fairly, most people would say sufficiently, edu- 
cated; and their healthy life in the open air and con- 
stant exercise preserve a physical development, a 
strength of frame and constitution, that is rare in 
these days of machinery and easy chairs! Judging 
from what I saw at a recent visit to the forests of 
Germany and the big towns of England, I should say 
that England could better afford to pay £20,750,000 
for foreign wood than to lose the broad-shouldered 
and muscular men who once worked in her forests. 
These are the men whom we value as colonists — men 
fitted to go forth and subdue the waste places of the 
earth." 



CHAPTEK V 

THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF FORESTS 

Even the most casual observer, in traveling from 
place to place, notes with interest the various phases 
of forest vegetation. In every region, except where 
the conditions are so inhospitable that nothing can 
grow, various plants are grouped together in the form 
of communities or societies. The species which con- 
stitute these communities have in common the 
ability to endure the peculiar conditions in which they 
live. Every species fills a niche which it holds 
against intruders, in consequence of some peculiar 
advantage or ability which it possesses. These group- 
ings are the result of various warring forces. In 
some places there are deserts which are practically 
devoid of vegetable life ; in others, prairies and savan- 
nas, with a few herbaceous plants, especially grasses; 
in others, swamp-lands, and all gradations of forest- 
growth, to the most luxuriant form of vegetation, 
which is the tropical forest. This enjoys constant 
warmth, constant moisture, and suitable soil condi- 
tions. Although plants have, in the course of time, 



70 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

become adapted to all sorts of conditions, the ideal 
condition in which most plants reach their optimum 
is in a climate in which there is never frost, in which 
there is always sufficient warmth and moisture, and 
in which the soil is of the proper quality both chem- 
ically and physically. In such an environment the 
struggle for existence is not against the parsimony 
of Nature, but between the individuals which con- 
stitute the community. 

Every clime is capable of supporting a certain 
number of living things in proportion to its natural 
resources. These ultimate resources are sunlight, 
warmth, moisture, and suitable soil. In the presence 
of the proper proportion of these conditions, vegeta- 
tion reaches its maximal growth. The vegetal, and 
especially arboreal population of such a region is usu- 
ally extremely high, so high, in fact, that the struggle 
between the members of the community is most in- 
tense. Every individual must fight incessantly in 
order to hold sufficient space in which to grow. These 
ultimate resources do not exist throughout the whole 
world in the proper proportions. Whenever there 
is proportionately too little or too much of any one 
of these resources, then there begins a struggle with 
the environment, and only those species survive 
which are able to endure the abnormal condition. 
Therefore, we have, distributed over the face of the 



THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF FORESTS 71 

globe communities of plants which can endure vary- 
ing degrees of cold, an excess or scarcity of moisture, 
or unfavorable soil conditions. The population of 
plants and animals is greatest in those regions where 
vegetation reaches its optimum, and decreases as one 
moves into regions where Nature's ultimate resources 
become more and more meager or out of proportion. 
The simple fact, however, that a certain species 
may be found growing only in a very limited range 
is no reason for believing that it will not grow else- 
where. Many species which have been moved from 
their native place have met with new enemies and 
have perished; others, however, in being moved have 
escaped their foes, just as the American locust es- 
capes the borer in Europe. The forester is especially 
concerned with the possible range of all the species 
of important forest trees. The range of one species 
overlaps another depending upon its endurance or 
adaptability. In the zone in which the overlapping 
occurs, there is a change of neighborly relations of 
the species, and a varied rivalry in consequence. The 
red-cedar, for instance, beginning with Cuba and end- 
ing with Canada, passes through the natural ranges 
of many species. Because of its wonderful adapta- 
bility or versatility, it is a member of many com- 
munities. In the South it is a hydrophyte, or swamp- 
plant; in other places, it is a xerophyte, or drought- 



72 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

plant, and in other places it endures other adverse 
conditions of many kinds. Although its distribution 
is more or less dependent upon birds which scatter its 
seeds, it is due mainly to the wonderful ability of 
the species to adapt itself to a great variety of condi- 
tions. The rate of growth and the quality of wood 
vary accordingly. It is, however, in the moist, warm, 
fertile districts of the Mississippi bottom-land, and in 
Florida, where it reaches its optimum. The bald- 
cypress is classed as a true hydrophyte, or water-plant. 
Although it does not endure much cold, it is a beauti- 
ful shade tree in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, on 
the upland. Its northernmost natural range is along 
the Pocomoke River in Maryland. It has endured 
considerable drought on our southern prairies in 
Texas. Although it endures these diversities of en- 
vironment, it grows best in rich, warm, moist, but 
well-drained sandy soil. The simple fact that a tree 
grows naturally in the greatest abundance in certain 
localities is no indication that it will not grow as well, 
if not better, elsewhere. 

The day is past when we should concern ourselves 
exclusively with the species of our own country, in 
spite of their abundance and great variety. We 
should search the world for those species of the great- 
est value, which will grow to the best advantage in 
various parts of this country. In this way every 



THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF FORESTS 73 

country may be developed to the highest pitch of pro- 
ductiveness, with the least waste of energy and time. 
Conservatism in such matters is a loss to ourselves 
and to posterity. 

Natural distribution of species, as it stands to-day, 
is mainly a matter of accident. The locust, red-oak, 
and Douglas-fir are as well, if not better known in 
Europe than in their native land. It is said by the 
foresters in Hungary that "the locust has been discov- 
ered in America especially for the Hungarian plain." 
The eucalyptus of Australia is at home in California, 
the ailanthus and paulownia come to us from the 
Orient, and a visit to many arboreta in tropical as 
well as temperate regions should convince us that 
experimentation with exotics is in its merest infancy. 

In order to understand the peculiar groupings of 
plants in societies over the face of the earth, we must 
consider the various agencies of, and drawbacks to, 
the extension of vegetation. There is a tendency 
toward a settled equilibrium, but just as long as the 
forces of extension and interruption are inconstant 
and sporadic, just so long will the ranges of the vari- 
ous species change. The idea of a natural range of an 
economic plant no longer means much, and is no 
longer of much importance, except as a matter of his- 
tory. Few people are concerned with the natural 
range of the locust-tree. Its possible range is of much 



74 PEACTICAL FORESTRY 

more importance. We should be much more inter- 
ested in knowing where trees will grow, than where 
they have grown. 

1. Aids to Forest Extension 

Seeds are often provided with attachments to aid 
in their dissemination. Some seeds have wings by 
means of which they are blown long, distances by the 
wind, such as those of the spruce and pine, which 
whirl in a circle as they fall to the ground. In that 
way their fall is retarded, so that the chances of their 
dissemination by the wind are greatly increased. The 
seeds of the basswood, or linden, are borne on the 
midrib of the leaf, which falls with the seeds, and 
acts as a kite in aiding their distribution. Some seeds 
are formed within little bladders, as with the hop- 
hornbeam. The bulk is large in proportion to its 
weight, so that transportation by the wind is facili- 
tated. 

Birches and poplars often appear on burnt-over 
land far away from the mother-tree. This is due to 
the ease with which their light-winged seeds are car- 
ried long distances by the wind. 

Other seeds are covered with a pulp which, when 
ripe, is edible. In the center there are usually one 
or more hard seeds which resist the action of the 
digestive juices and pass through the animal unin- 



AIDS TO FOREST EXTENSION 75 

jured; in fact, this process often aids germination. 
Often this pulp is bright-colored when ripe, to attract 
these animals; but unattractive, in fact, extremely 
unpalatable, before the seeds are ripe, as with the 
persimmon, which is extensively distributed by the 
opossum. Birds are the most active animal seed-dis- 
seminators. They fly over mountains and seas, and 
in their migrations scatter here and there the seeds 
of the plants upon which they feed. 

The rich, oily meat which Nature has stored in 
nuts to feed the young plantlet until it develops 
leaves and roots, and can care for itself, is a much- 
coveted morsel, for which a squirrel is willing to 
work long and hard. Many seeds are overlooked by 
the squirrel, or are buried and forgotten. Animals 
of this kind often store away for the winter more 
provender than they can consume, and of these some 
may sprout and grow. The dissemination of these 
heavy-seeded species is therefore slow. 

Many fruits are so constructed that they will 
float long distances. The coconut is an interesting 
adaptation in this respect. It grows close to the 
ocean, and would crack in falling to the strand were 
it not covered with a husk, called coir. When the 
nut falls, it often bounds into the sea and floats many 
miles with the currents. 

The common Brazil-nut is an interesting fruit. 



76 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

About twenty of these nuts are formed together in- 
side an extremely hard round shell. It resembles a 
small cannon-ball. This fruit falls with such force 
from the high trees that the natives protect their 
heads and shoulders with bucklers of wood. If the 
ground is soft, it buries itself in the soil when it 
falls. It is so full of oil, however, that it floats, and 
is probably carried from place to place in times of 
flood. 

Some fruits are so constructed that they explode 
and shoot their seeds some distance, as with the sand- 
box-tree of the tropics. It is often called the mon- 
key's dinner-bell; because, on hearing the explosion, 
the monkeys hasten to feast upon the seeds. The 
wich-hazel pod squeezes out its seeds just as a boy 
shoots a bean or apple-seed from between his thumb 
and forefinger. Twigs of willows are snapped off by 
the currents of streams and are washed ashore, where 
they take root and grow. 

We could mention many interesting devices for 
the spread of plants over the face of the earth. The 
most potent disseminator of all, however, is man, 
who uses intelligence in his work of distribution. 
In many places he has completely changed the na- 
ture of the landscape by tree-planting, as in our 
Western country. Even more potent in this work 
than the individual, is the government, which, in hav- 



AIDS TO FOREST EXTENSION 77 

ing superior opportunities and connections, can send 
agents to all parts of the world, experiment with the 
importations, and then distribute seeds with instruc- 
tions. In fact, the government should control all 
such importations, in that there is grave danger of 
introducing undesirable kinds, and with them, also 
undesirable pests. 

Long ago Great Britain sent ships to the East 
Indies to gather seeds for planting in her AVest Indian 
possessions. Many fine fruits and trees have resulted 
from these early importations. 

The collection and preparation of the seeds of 
trees is now an important business in almost all parts 
of the world, and seeds of almost all valued spe- 
cies may be secured at fair prices from our seed- 
dealers. 

Many other causes have stimulated the spread of 
seeds. The introduction of the honey-bee into Amer- 
ica has, no doubt, increased the amount of seeds pro- 
duced by the locust, basswood, and other trees, and 
of course the larger the amount of seeds produced, 
the greater the number of young trees and the more 
rapid their extension. 

"When a person drops a seed into the ground, it 
is impossible to predict the result. He often accom- 
plishes more than the addition of a single tree. He 
plants a seed-producer which yields other seed-pro- 



78 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ducers which would cover the earth but for certain 
hindrances or barriers which prevent their spread. 

2. Barriers to Forest Extension 

The spread of seeds is often hindered by high 
mountains and seas. In many instances plants have 
been thus confined or imprisoned in small areas. The 
greatest of all barriers to tree-growth is cold. It is 
this which determines the northern limit of all trees, 
and the timber-line on mountain sides. Below about 
43° Fahr., vegetative activity is not possible. The 
temperature for at least six weeks of the year must 
exceed that figure. Many claim that the plants of 
temperate regions need the rest of winter. If so, 
the arctic willow has mostly rest, and is in conse- 
quence only a stunted tree form. Although north- 
ern species have, in the course of time, become 
adapted to this condition of affairs, long inactivity can 
be of no advantage whatever to any plant or animal. 
In many cases in our north it is a case of mere ex- 
istence, and not growth. Conifers cover vast areas 
of our north mainly because they are able to work 
at a lower temperature than deciduous trees. They 
are, on the whole, less frost-tender, although there 
are pines, such as the famous stone-pine of Italy and 
the Cuban pine, which are very sensitive to cold. 
"When pines or spruce are frozen throughout, as is 



BARRIERS TO FOREST EXTENSION 79 

often the case, there is of course no activity; but in 
warmer times, in the spring and fall, while broad- 
leaved species have no leaves, they are of course 
more or less active. At any rate, the cessation of 
growth in winter, as with drought in summer, is an 
enforced idleness which can serve no purpose, and is 
therefore not rest. The amount of wood which is 
added in so short a time is therefore small in quantity. 

In the tropics there is continuous growth in re- 
gions where there is a commensurate amount of 
moisture. In many instances the leaves fall, the 
flowers and fruit suddenly appear, and then in a short 
time follows again a new crop of leaves. In many 
instances, if not in the majority of cases, in warm, 
moist regions, there is no periodicity of leaf -fall. The 
trees are there evergreens, and growth is constant. 
The peach is an evergreen in Ceylon. 

Many northern species suddenly transported 
southward would die, no doubt, in short order. 
Northern trees have become more or less adapted to 
the conditions of the environment in which they live. 
Their mechanism is not fitted for a sudden change, 
although a northern tree moved south is more likely 
to thrive than a southern species moved north. It 
would be dazzled by the excessive sunlight, and its 
tender leaves would be shattered by tropical hurri- 
canes and downpours. It might be stifled by its more 



80 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

vigorous neighbors, or fall an easy prey to insect and 
fungus pests, which would relish a new food material; 
but by a slow process of acclimatization and fostering 
care, however, even our northernmost species might 
in time become accustomed to the new environment. 
Northern annuals would become perennial, northern 
light-demanders would become shade-demanders, and 
northern slow-growers might become rapid-growers 
under the favorable conditions of a southern cli- 
mate. 

In the tropics there are many palms which have 
no representatives in northern regions. The common- 
est grasses, such as bamboo, grow to be trees. The 
same is true of ferns. 

Slow-growing and rapid-growing are only com- 
parative terms. There are slow-growers and fast- 
growers in the tropics as in northern regions. There 
are many heavy slow-growing hardwoods in the trop- 
ics, but, as a rule, in "consequence of the abundance 
of warmth, moisture, and fertile soil, growth is very 
rapid. Although the highest mean temperature for 
the year is found in the torrid zone, the maximum 
readings of the thermometer are obtained at about 
the thirtieth parallel of latitude during the summer. 
It is also in about that region, which is in the neigh- 
borhood of ISTew Orleans and St. Augustine, that frost 
often causes very serious damage. It is about here, 



BARRIERS TO FOREST EXTENSION 81 

also, that many of the trees of the Eastern United 
States reach their southern limit. 

The great cold wave which covered a large part 
of this continent during the glacial epoch must have 
exercised a gigantic influence on the northern dis- 
tribution of many species of trees. It could not 
have driven them southward, because trees, unlike 
animals, can not be easily driven. Tropical life once 
existed in arctic and temperate regions. Although 
the seeds of many trees will retain their potency a 
long time when embedded solidly in ice, it is safe to 
assume that none survived in those regions which 
were actually covered with the grinding ice-mass of 
the glacial epoch. Its chilling effects must have been 
felt far southward. Since that time, no doubt, spe- 
cies have been moving slowly northward, depending 
mainly upon the various natural agencies of dissemi- 
nation, especially the wind. The species with heavy 
seeds, such as oaks, walnuts, and hickories, have lin- 
gered behind. These changes will continue, no doubt, 
until every species finds the northernmost limit of its 
possible range. Those species with the lightest seeds 
are not always those of the broadest range. This de- 
pends upon the ability of the tree to endure adverse 
conditions. The giant Sequoia, of California, is lim- 
ited in its range, although its seeds are very small 
and light, and widely scattered by the wind. The 



82 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

aspen, on the other hand, with its light seeds and 
ability to grow almost anywhere, extends from Labra- 
dor, Hudson Bay, and the Yukon Eiver in Alaska, 
southward to Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. 

The second most important factor in determining 
the distribution of species is moisture. Without 
some moisture no tree. can live. The conifers, in tem- 
perate regions, use per year, according to some au- 
thorities, as much, if not more, water than broad- 
leaved species. While the broad-leaved species are 
in leaf, however, they use much more water than do 
the conifers. The drier the climate and the larger 
the leaf surface, the greater the amount of evapora- 
tion. Therefore, plants of extremely dry regions have 
developed a small leaf surface, or the leaves are cov- 
ered with wax or mucilage in such a way that evapora- 
tion is hindered. As a rule, the conifers, or cone- 
bearers, owing to their endurance, inhabit the cold 
zones of the earth. They grow also on the upper zone 
of mountains, and in dry places in the tropics. They 
would grow in other parts of the tropics were they 
not crowded out by the more vigorous and more 
highly developed broad-leafed species. They are truly 
pioneers paving the way for the broad-leafed kinds 
which are constantly creeping in, and because of their 
vigorous coppice-growth are holding their own. In 



BARRIERS TO FOREST EXTENSION 



83 



northern regions, such as the Adirondacks, coppice- 
growth is slight. In many parts of this country the 
pines have been replaced by the broad-leafed species. 




The Desert of Utah. 
Showing lack of vegetation and wind erosion. 

In the total absence of moisture a desert results. 
Some species, after long years of hardship, have be- 
come inured to a scarcity of moisture, especially the 
cacti, the leaves of which are thorns and the stems of 
which have developed into leaf -like structures. These 
stems are storehouses of moisture, and the thorns are 
a protection against the greedy animals of the desert. 
The date is a very valuable tree, which is able to with- 



84 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



stand the rigors of desert life. What the coconut is 
to the shores of tropical seas, the date is to the desert. 
The next great barrier to tree-growth is unsuit- 
able soil. Often there is insufficient soil; often the 
soil contains alkali or salt, and very often there is 
hard-pan near the surface which prevents the penetra- 
tion of roots. It is very seldom that tree-growth is 
prevented by a lack of nourishing food material in 




A Scene on our Western Prairies. 

the soil. Although trees are often in a half-starved 
condition, it is an extremely poor soil which will not 
support tree-growth of some kind. The formation 
of grass- or savanna-land is often due to hard-pan, 
which is hardened or indurated soil. Hard-pan not 



BARRIERS TO FOREST EXTENSION 85 

only prevents the penetration of roots, but, because 
of imperfect drainage, the ground is sour and stag- 
nant in nature, and therefore not conducive to tree- 
growth. 

Although the winds occasion the spread of seeds, 
they also hinder tree-growth, if constant and severe. 
Although winds are checked by belts of trees, large 
areas of forest are often leveled to the ground by the 
action of gales. 

Fire has been for many years, even before the 
advent of mankind, and is still, a very potent agent 
in molding the nature of the surface of the earth. 
Lightning and volcanic fire have often set it. The 
lowlands have suffered less than the highlands, be- 
cause of their moistness. Glades with open pasture, 
with here and there a tree, are, no doubt, due in many 
cases to fire. Fire on a heavy soil tends toward the 
formation of grass-lands. The weaker species of the 
forest suffer first, then after a succession of fires only 
the hardiest remain. In the course of time even the 
hardiest forms are killed, and a prairie or desert re- 
sults., Where fires have been stopped, the forest is 
invading the prairie-land. It is said that in the dry 
parts of Australia there are species of trees with seeds 
which will not germinate until their outer husk is 
cracked by fire. The following is from the Agricul- 
tural Gazette of New South Wales: 



86 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

"It is a curious thing to those who do not know 
the nature of the seeds of some of the tribe or natural 
order Leguminosse — the Albizzia, alias Mimosa, alias 
Acacia, alias Prickly Wattle, Hickory, Myall, Mulga, 
Black Wattle, etc., etc., and which tribe constitute 
our scrubs — that burning-ofT causes them to grow 
after lying in the ground for years; after burning off 
the stubble of what has been used for a long time as 
a cultivation paddock, wattle scrub will spring up 
which is almost impenetrable, and that after the mem- 
ory of a tree in the district has been lost. It seems 
to require a fire to crack the outer case that moisture 
may penetrate and cause germination. This is why 
constant clearing is necessary; in other words, select- 
ors burn of! thinking to destroy, but they really assist 
and force the growth of these scrubs. Grass-burning 
will cause a sweet grass to grow, it is true, but with 
it acacias of various kinds spring up, some on the first 
year and more on the next, for they do not all get 
roasted alike, and the unknowing wonder where the 
growth comes from. The land at some previous year 
had wattles, etc., but, as they only live seven years, 
had died off; and no previous fire, no growth. In this 
peculiarity the wattle tribe does not stand alone; it 
is so with many other plants known to botanists." 
Our Western lodgepole-pine is of interest in this 
respect. The seeds are formed in an extremely 



BARRIERS TO FOREST EXTENSION 87 

tough cone. The fire may kill the tree, but the seeds 
are often uninjured. This pine is thus reproduced in 
spite of fire. It is this peculiarity which, in part at 
least, accounts for its wide distribution over areas 
subject to frequent fires. 

The Indian set fire to improve the berry-crop, a 
common practise still in many parts of this country. 
He desired open places and pasture to furnish food 
for game and to facilitate hunting. Fires are com- 
monly set to-day in the forest throughout our South 
to improve the pasturage. 

Constant burning has tended to reduce the num- 
ber of species, and produce many open pure woods. 
Some trees are, however, gregarious. This flocking 
together is probably due, in part at least, to the fact 
that some species produce much more seed than oth- 
ers, and that this seed is produced in immense quan- 
tities, not every year, but every now and then, in 
what are called seed-years. These seed-years occur 
with more or less regularity, and the seeds sprout 
and mature together. In this way one species may 
often gain complete possession of the soil. 

Browsing animals, such as cattle and sheep, are, of 
course, more or less destructive to forests. Young 
trees of good flavor are soon devoured, while others 
are injured by trampling. A camel will eat a canvas 
tent, a giraffe can reach with its long neck the most 



88 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

tender foliage of the tree, and an elephant with his 
powerful proboscis can uproot trees of considerable 
size with little difficulty. The moose not only eats 
the branches and bark of young trees, but by jump- 
ing on saplings bends them over and holds them down 
while he eats their tender tops. The word moose, it 
is said, comes from the Indian word " musu," which 
means " wood-eater." 

Plants are usually protected against animals by 
poisons, disagreeable flavors, or spines. The holly 
possesses prickly leaves, and the liquidambar is 
usually left untouched because of its pungent flavor. 
Cattle eat the leaves of the mulberry with avidity. 
In Italy and many other countries, cattle and horses 
are fed upon leaves. Sheep are often used for the 
purpose of clearing land. They devour both the weeds 
and the young trees. When we consider the hordes 
of bison which wandered over our plains, to say noth- 
ing of the lack of moisture, compact soil, and periodic 
fires, there is little wonder that they are treeless. 

Disease due to insects may kill certain species 
and leave others untouched. Injurious insects have 
suddenly appeared, caused an immense amount of 
damage, and then suddenly disappeared. Several of 
our most beautiful and valuable tree species have 
been many times in jeopardy because of insect pests. 

The only insect defoliator or leaf-eater which has 



BARRIERS TO FOREST EXTENSION 89 

been of benefit to mankind is the silkworm, which 
feeds upon the leaves of the mulberry. TVhen the 
vitality of the forest has been reduced by fire it falls 
an easy prey to the ravages of insects and other dis- 
ease-causing organisms. Injurious insects are usually 
kept in check by their enemies. These enemies are 
other insects, birds, toads, and other animals. 

AVeeds are often a hindrance to forest-growth. 
In many instances, grass, climbing vines, and dense 
thickets of bushes, have complete possession of the 
soil, so that young growth is seriously hindered, es- 
pecially in the south. In the north this kind of 
growth on the ground is often a benefit, in that it may 
protect young trees against the action of frost. 

Then, too, between the species of the forest and 
between the individuals of the species there is constant 
war. In tropical countries where the struggle is most 
intense, there are mortal hand-to-hand combats. 

Perhaps the greatest barrier to tree-growth is 
man. In addition to causing fires, he uses those spe- 
cies best suited to his needs, and leaves the most un- 
desirable kinds, and thus often causes forest deterio- 
ration. On the other hand, in some instances, he 
uses skill and foresight. The forest is constantly 
improved in consequence. Mankind, in his process 
of development, has accomplished a great work in 
subjugating and bringing to his household many use- 



90 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ful plants and animals. The great work of the future 
should be directed toward the subjugation of the wil- 
derness for perpetual forest supplies, and the reclama- 
tion of the waste lands of the earth. 

All the above influences have been at work for a 
long period of time. They are at work at present, 
and we have as an inheritance all sorts of combina- 
tions in the way of plant communities or societies. 
These conditions vary with every district, and the 
products vary accordingly, and, in consequence, the 
industries and occupations of the people. The for- 
ester by careful cultural methods endeavors to pre- 
serve or improve the quality of the soil in such a way 
that the struggle of the forest with the environment 
is reduced to a minimum, and to control the struggle 
between the individuals of the forest in such a way 
that the largest quantity of the best material desired 
will be produced in the shortest length of time. 



PAKT II 

THE FORMATION AND TENDING 
OF FORESTS 



CHAPTER VI 

THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 

Before beginning the formation of forests it is 
important to know the advantages and disadvantages 
of pure and mixed woods. 

In the case of pure forests the management is 
simple. A pure forest may be regenerated with lit- 
tle trouble by careful selective cutting, or by cutting 
clean and planting afresh. In the case of a pure, 
irregular forest, one may cut down to a diameter 
limit and constantly reap a crop, provided the amount 
removed is never greater than the product of growth. 
In spite, however, of the fact that pure woods are 
easily managed, they are easily blown down by the 
wind if shallow rooted, as with the spruce. In pure 
woods only one kind of material is yielded, and in- 
sects may often do an immense amount of damage. 

With several species, or even only two species, the 

91 



92 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

danger is correspondingly less. It is rare, indeed, 
that an insect will injure more than one species at a 
time. 

In the case of mixed forests it is possible to grow 
shallow- with deep-rooted species with safety from the 
action of the wind. The soil and air space are utilized 
to better advantage. If the underwood is of the 
proper kind, the soil is protected and improved. In 
Germany the tendency is decidedly toward the en- 
couragement of mixed forests, although in Saxony 
immense areas of pure spruce are raised for pulp, and 
in Prussia and southwestern France one may ride 
through vast stretches of pure pine. The mixture of 
two sorts of trees is almost always advisable, espe- 
cially if one is a broad-leafed species and a shade- 
endurer, and the other a conifer and light-demander. 
It is difficult to regenerate a mixed forest without 
planting, and greater skill is required in its manage- 
ment, so that in many instances pure forests are pref- 
erable. This is so with spruce, which is probably 
the first tree that will be extensively grown artificially 
in forests in our northern regions. 

There will be little difficulty in securing mixed 
forests in this country. They are naturally too much 
mixed. The difficulty will be mainly in excluding 
undesirable species, and in maintaining the desirable 
species in the proper proportions and relations. 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 93 

The choice of species to plant or to favor in the 
improvement of forests is extremely important, and 
should always receive much consideration. The se- 
lection of the wrong species means labor lost and dis- 
appointment after long years of waiting. It is said 
that a tree may thrive and give great promise in 
youth, and then later die and disappoint one, or vice 
versa. In general, however, it is safe to assume that 
if a tree does well in youth, which is, of course, its 
tenderest age, the chances are favorable for good 
aftergrowth. It is, of course, safer to plant indige- 
nous species, or those exotics which are so well known 
that there can be no mistake. It is not wise, however, 
to cling tenaciously to those species which are native, 
when it is positively known that certain foreign spe- 
cies will serve our purposes better. The writer has 
known of persons who considered it unpatriotic to 
use foreign species. The white-pine, Douglas-fir, 
red-oak, locust, and tulip-tree are more exten- 
sively planted in Europe to-day than in their native 
country. 

It is safer to plant the European spruce (Picea 
excelsa) than our native northeastern spruces. Our 
native spruces are difficult to distinguish from one 
another. Botanists are constantly disagreeing in ref- 
erence to their identity. Still more difficult would it 
be for the seed collector to determine. Our spruces 



94 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

are apparently slower growers than the European 
spruce. The seed of the American spruce is difficult 
to obtain and of course expensive. The European 
spruce is well known, its seed is cheap, its growth is 
rapid, its cones are large and seed easily collected, and 
it has been planted so much in this country as a shade 
tree that its fitness can not be doubted. 

One constantly meets with surprises in forestry, 
and there is certainly something surprising in the 
fact that the Danes are planting our common white 
spruce on the bleak heath-lands of their windy coun- 
try. The white spruce (Picea canadensis) is an ex- 
tremely important species for Denmark, because ex- 
periments prove beyond doubt that it is excellently 
suited for cultivation on the poor, dry, and above all, 
tempestuous heaths of Jutland. Here appears to be 
a contradiction — the Danes choose our spruce and we 
choose the native European spruce. It is often, how- 
ever, the case that a tree will do better in regions in 
which it is not native. This is so also of our com- 
mon red oak and black locust, which are famqus for- 
est trees in Europe. 

In the choice of species for planting or encourage- 
ment, three points at least are worth considering: 

First, the adaptability of the species to the soil 
and climate in which you may wish to plant it. 

Second, its silvicultural qualities, such as rapidity 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 95 

of growth, ease of propagation, freedom from dis- 
ease, etc. 

Third, that it will serve the purpose for which 
you are growing it. 

It would be risky to plant a species out of its natu- 
ral climatic range, or in soil to which it is not perfectly 
adapted. It would be discouraging to select a species 
which grows slowly, which is naturally tender, which 
suffers from disease, and which, on the whole, is diffi- 
cult to propagate. Above all, select those species 
which will serve your purposes in the end. This re- 
quires good judgment, because products which may 
be of value at present, may not be fashionable a quar- 
ter of a century in the future. Fashion often plays 
a very important role in the value of wood. Chestnut, 
for instance, as an interior finish, is very modern. 
For years this valuable wood was used almost exclu- 
sively for fence-rails and posts. The name of a wood 
almost condemns it. Take, for instance, the red-gum 
tree {Eucalyptus rostrata) of Australia. The name 
" gum " would condemn it in this country. There is 
no timber more highly prized than that of the red 
gum in its native land. Call it " mahogany," and its 
value would be enhanced in the minds of many people. 

The value of wood may often be modified by the 
application of preservatives. Wood may be injected 
with chemicals so that decay is resisted, or com- 



96 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

bustibility reduced, or stained in such a way that 
precious woods may be counterfeited. Instead of 
stains or paints, inferior woods may be covered with 
choice veneers. This is even practised in the manu- 
facture of cigar-boxes. A cheap grade of poplar is 
covered with a fine veneer of Cuban-cedar on the 
outside and with paper on the inside. In similar ways 
even wood of inferior quality may be used. It is 
probably true that the sweet-scented Cuban-cedar 
(Cedrela odorata) prevents the ravages of insects in 
cigars. 

It would be folly, of course, to plant oak for paper 
pulp, or poplar for ship timbers. 

If the purpose of the forest is protection against 
the destructive forces of Nature, or for esthetic or 
sanitary influences, the quality of the wood is a 
secondary matter; but whenever it is possible those 
species should be selected which will serve as many 
purposes as possible. 

After having decided upon the kind of forest 
and the species desired, the next step in the formation 
of a forest is soil reclamation, if that is necessary and 
possible. If the soil is extremely swampy or sandy 
it often pays, in fact, is often necessary, to improve 
the condition of the land before the kind of tree you 
may desire to plant will grow. 

Swampy land may often be helped by merely 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 97 

opening the natural ditches which drain it. In the 
north woods the small streams are used in winter for 
log-roads. They are filled with corduroy, brush, and 
other debris to such extent that their flow is inter- 
rupted. Many acres may be drained by a few hours' 
work in removing debris. When ditches are dug for 
the purpose of drainage they should be left open. 
Underdrains soon become clogged with roots and 
are soon, of course, utterly useless. After the 
trees are once well established, they will help 
drain the land. Trees are often planted for this 
purpose. 

In many places where there is an excessive 
amount of vegetable matter, such as peat or duff, 
burning may be a benefit. Plants must have some 
mineral soil. On the coast of Alaska, for instance^ 
this material is often many feet thick. It must be 
removed before a crop of anything but moss and 
bushes can be produced. There are vast accumula- 
tions of this sort of material in northern Europe in 
the form of deep peat or " torf " beds. 

In the case of shifting sand it may be necessary 
to build brush fences or wattles to check the force 
of the wind and cut off the supply of sand. Brush 
may be piled upon the sand to hold it in place, and to 
protect the young plants from the sun and wind-blast. 
In some places it may be necessary to plant shel- 



98 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ter belts of quick-growing species to check the wind 
until more desirable kinds may gain a foothold, or to 
plant nurse trees to shelter tender species in youth 
from the action of frost, wind, and sun. On steep 
mountain sides or high embankments where the soil 
may slide on the slightest provocation, it is often 
necessary to fix it by means of wattlework before 
planting. This wattlework serves to hold it in place 
until the trees one plants have rootage enough to 
perform that function. Wattlework consists of sticks 
or twigs twisted together and woven between short 
stakes which have been driven a short distance into 
the soil. Thus a mountain side may be firmly knitted 
together, apparently patched and stitched like an old 
garment. 

The exigencies of each case demand certain pre- 
liminary works upon which the success of the forest 
depends. When the forest is once established, no 
further work of this kind is necessary. 

Suppose we are employed to reforest a territory 
in the bad lands of Mississippi or Alabama where, 
owing to deforestation, the clay soil has been cut by 
erosion into many gullies. It would be expensive 
and useless to fill these hollows with earth, but by 
building brush dams at frequent intervals across the 
gully, much can be accomplished. The brush dam 
can be held in place by stones or by poles firmly 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 99 

braced from bank to bank. The water of the next 
rain will pass through, but the earth and debris will 
remain behind the brush dams until the gullies 
become practically filled. Then planting is easy. 
Along the shores of streams, bunches of brush in the 
form of bavins and fagots may be used to dissipate 
the action of the waves until willows or other trees 
may be used to hold the bank in place. The con- 
struction of these protective works which is prepara- 
tory to forest formation, often requires a great deal 
of skill and engineering ability. 

For the sake of convenience more than for any 
other reason, the formation of forests may be divided 
into two categories: the first, cases in which man 
prepares the seed-bed and sows the seed, or plants 
little plants; and, second, cases in which Nature sows 
the seed and where man simply aids her by preparing 
a seed-bed under the mother trees in such a way that 
natural regeneration follows. One is called artificial, 
and the other natural regeneration. Nature does 
most of the work in both cases. In fact, there is little 
that is artificial about it in the first case. Man aids 
Nature a little more in one case than in the other. 
In one instance man sows the seed or plants the 
little plants, and in the other Nature does it, although 
in the latter man cuts in such a way that the mother 
trees will bear an abundance of seed, and wounds the 

LrfC. 



100 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

soil in such a way that germination will follow when 
the seed falls. 

The seeds may be collected and then sown in a 
nursery where the young trees may be carefully 
tended, and when of sufficient size, planted on the 
area where they are destined to remain until the time 
of reaping. This is essential in the case of many ten- 
der species. In other instances direct sowing may 
be practised. The seeds may be sown in various ways 
upon the area which one may desire to stock. Only 
those species, however, which are not delicate may be 
sown in this way. In the case of small and expensive 
seeds, direct sowing is risky. Much depends also 
upon the nature of the locality. In poor soils and 
in regions where squirrels, mice, and other seed-eat- 
ing animals are abundant, direct sowing generally re- 
sults in failure. Vigorous, quick-growing seedlings, 
which need no protection in youth, may be success- 
fully produced by direct sowing. 

This is, of course, Nature's method, but Nature's 
method is characterized by the extremest kind of lav- 
ishness. Millions and billions of seeds are wasted 
every year. Every seed is a ball of extremely rich 
concentrated material, which has consumed a large 
part of the tree's energy in its process of manufac- 
ture. Were there no forest fires, no lumberman, no 
injurious insects, or other destructive agencies except 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 101 

old age, a tree would have to produce only one ma- 
ture offspring to fill its place in order to maintain the 
forest regions of the world intact. Owing to the 
awful struggle which the individuals of the world must 
wage against their enemies and their own kind, every 
tree must produce millions of seeds and thousands of 
seedlings to surely leave in its place a single repre- 
sentative. By coming to its aid and by guiding the 
forces of JSTature over which the tree has no control, 
man may rescue from extinction many valuable indi- 
viduals and even species. He can control the produc- 
tion of wood, just as he controls the production of 
wheat or of corn. 

In the formation of forests nothing is of more 
importance than the quality of the seed. Seed should 
be ripe, fresh, and of standard weight and size, and 
all seeds should be tested before sowing. In a single 
pound of birch seed there are 800,000 seeds, while 
the fruit of the double coconut, which contains four 
seeds, weighs from forty to fifty pounds. 

It is usually conceded that the dominant trees of 
the forest are produced by the largest and richest 
seeds. The best seed produces the best trees and the 
best seed-producers. In the struggle for existence 
a small advantage in the beginning may mean life 
and vigor to one tree, and suppression and death to 
many others. 



102 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

Let us, for the sake of experiment, collect some 
white-pine seed and sow it in a little bed. A few 
will germinate the first year, a large number the 
second, a few the third, and some, never. In the 
same bed at the end of three years we would have 
one-year-old, two-year-old, and three-year-old plants. 
It is easy to see that those which germinated the 
first year would have a great and lasting advantage 
over those which sprouted later. This, however, is 
probably economy on the part of the tree. Seed years 
are not frequent in northern districts. Those which 
sprouted the first year may meet with difficulties and 
perish. There is then still a chance that some of 
those which sprout the second year, and even those 
which sprout the third year may survive. By soak- 
ing the seed in water at a temperature of 130° for 
twenty-four hours, the majority that will sprout at all 
will sprout at once. 

Great care must be exercised in the sowing of 
soaked seeds. If sown in dry soil they will perish. 
By scalding locust seed, or by soaking it in warm 
water for three days, the outer hard encasement is 
broken, and the seeds will soon sprout, but if these 
are sown in dry soil, all may be lost. 

The germinating power is greatest soon after the 
seeds are ripe. In many instances, especially in 
tropical countries, seeds germinate just as soon as 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 103 

they fall to the ground, and even in a few cases 
while still attached to the parent tree, so that, in fact, 
the seedling and not the seed falls. 

The seeds of Castilloa elastica, the Central Amer- 
ican rubber tree, can be kept only a few days. Pack- 
ing seeds in charcoal, in air-tight boxes, may prolong 
their life, but in some instances, in spite of great 
care, the period of vitality is extremely short. Some 
seeds retain their vitality for several years. The 
statement that wheat seed, three thousand years old, 
from Egyptian mummy cases, germinates, is, how- 
ever, one of those lies which live on in spite of their 
preposterousness. 

When seeds are stored, they must be kept in a 
cool, airy place, which is neither too dry nor too 
damp. The outer encasements and hard shells of 
seeds perform the same functions that do the scales 
of buds. They protect the seed from the absorption 
and the 'evaporation of too much water. In fact, a 
seed is not unlike a bud. Both contain an embryonic 
individual which is capable of developing into a ma- 
ture organism, retaining throughout the characters 
of the parent which produced it. One, however, is 
sexually, and the other asexually produced. One is 
the result of the union of the male and female ele- 
ments of two individuals, while the bud is merely a 
growing point surrounded by nascent leaves and pro- 



104 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

tective scales, and which, on being segregated, is 
capable of producing a plant similar to the single 
parent. Seeds and buds are both reproductive units. 
In addition to the scales which both possess for the 
prevention of excessive imbibition and evaporation, 
seeds are often supplied with extremely thick, hard 
encasements. 

It appears in the case of the black walnut, for 
instance, . that the shell has developed in the course 
of ages as a protection against gnawing animals. 
This is doubtful, because the teeth of the animal 
would grow longer and sharper as the shell of the nut, 
by the process of selection, grows thicker. It is ques- 
tionable whether, by a process of selection on the part 
of the squirrel, the thickest-shelled specimens are left. 
It is not possible for the squirrel to determine whether 
the shell is thick or thin, and in fact the walnut and 
hickory seeds which sprout, are usually those which 
the squirrel has accidentally dropped or overlooked. 
The hard shell is probably primarily, at least, for the 
purpose of retaining the proper degree of moisture in 
the fleshy part of the nut, and not to protect it from 
the depredations of gnawing animals. There are 
many who claim that a walnut will not sprout unless 
cracked by frost. It is questionable whether frost 
cracks the shell or not; in fact, walnuts will germi- 
nate in countries where there is no frost, which, of 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 105 

course, disproves the notion that frost is necessary 
for the germination of hard-shelled seeds. 

If seeds are bunched together in piles or bins, they 
must be turned frequently to prevent fermentation. 
Chestnuts, walnuts, and similar seeds must be packed 
in light dirt or sand during the winter. The outer 
husks should be removed. In the case of black wal- 
nuts, the seed may be easily hulled in a common corn- 
sheller. 

The source of seeds is a matter of great impor- 
tance. They should come from mature, healthy, 
quick-growing trees. Bad as well as good qualities 
may be transmitted. Never select seeds from stunted 
trees or trees with twisted fiber. Unfortunately, it 
is these abnormal trees which ordinarily produce the 
largest amount of seed. The more adverse the con- 
ditions, up to a certain limit, of course, the stronger 
the effort on the part of the tree to reproduce its 
kind. On high mountains, where the season is so short 
that there is insufficient warmth for seed production, 
except at rare intervals, the spruce and balsam re- 
produce themselves by shoots from the lower 
branches which have become covered with moss. This 
is a process of natural layering. It is not uncommon 
to find trees which have borne an immense amount 
of seed and have died the following year. Some may 
claim that the tree died in consequence of excessive 



106 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

seed production, but it is more than likely that the 
tree was already diseased and succumbed in the final 
great effort to leave behind the largest number of 
progeny possible. 

Large sums of money have been spent for north- 
ern seeds, especially spruce, in the hope of securing 
a vigorous, frost-hardy variety. The wisdom of this 
is doubtful, for even if frost-hardiness is secured, it is 
bought at the expense of other desirable qualities, and 
slow growth, tendency to grow twisted and crooked, 
result. Trees moved southward often suffer from 
frost more than in their native land, especially in 
youth, because in the north Nature protects her seed- 
lings by a thick mass of snow, and by hundreds of 
thousands of hardy, quick-growing birch and poplar 
nurse trees. The snow in the Adirondacks often 
falls so early that the soil never freezes throughout 
the winter. 

The farther north and the higher the altitude, 
the smaller the seed and the smaller the percentage 
of germination, although the quantity produced is 
often immense. 

Seeds from trees of a moist climate, sown in a 
moderately dry climate, do not produce thrifty plants, 
while it is quite the reverse of seeds which have been 
collected in a dry climate, and sown in one which is 
moist. Tor instance, seeds of Douglas-fir for plant- 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 107 

ing in the Eastern United States are collected in Colo- 
rado and not on the moist Pacific coast. If, however, 
the climate in which one desires to plant this tree 
equals in wetness the Pacific coast, it would be better 
to secure seeds from that district. 

One often hears the argument that trees or any 
other living thing which have survived adverse con- 
ditions are stronger and hardier than they would have 
been without this struggle. An animal or plant which 
has been deprived of everything except the minimum 
requirements for existence, can never compete with 
the well-fed organism. A tree can never completely 
recover from the effects of suppression and adversity. 
The common practise of hardening plants by grow- 
ing them in poor soil is a mistake. Grow them from 
good rich seed in good soil, and then if they are 
planted in bad soil they will grow all the better from 
their good start in early youth. One might, without 
doubt, produce hardiness by a long process of selec- 
tion, extending in the case of trees over a period of 
hundreds of centuries, but the hardening effect on the 
individual for a couple of years in the nursery is prob- 
ably very slight. 

It is best, then, to collect your own seed in 
your own district, from the best trees you can find. 
In that way, and in that way only, can one be 
absolutely sure that what he gets is what he wants. 



108 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

This is often impossible, and then one must do what 
is next best — purchase the seed from a reliable seed- 
dealer. All seeds bought of dealers should be care- 
fully tested before sowing, because no seed-dealer, 
for various reasons, will guarantee his seeds. Let 
me quote from the catalogue of one of our most 
reliable seed-dealers : " Non- Warranty of Seeds. — 
We exercise the utmost care and vigilance in testing 
all seed sold by us, but owing to uncontrollable in- 
fluences and accidents (such as bad weather, improper 
soil, insects, etc.), the best seeds will sometimes fail. 
We have, therefore, in common with all other large 
seed firms in the United States — members of the 
American Seed Trade Association — adopted the fol- 
lowing disclaimer : ' While we exercise the greatest 
care to have all seeds pure and reliable, we do not 
give any warranty, expressed or implied. If the pur- 
chaser does not accept the seeds on these terms and 
conditions, they must be returned at once, and the 
money that has been paid for the same will be re- 
funded.' " 

Beware of too clean seed. Seed which is abso- 
lutely clean should be regarded with suspicion, be- 
cause, in cleaning the husk from the seed, wounds 
result which permit the entrance of injurious fungi. 

Buy a small quantity or sample of the seed first, 
then test it. 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 109 

Good seeds should fill their outer coat, should 
have a good rich color, should have a healthy smell, 
and should look fresh and living when cut in half. 
In many instances good seeds will sink, while bad ones 
float. Sow one hundred seeds in a flower-pot or box 
containing good soil. Water enough, but not too 
much. Keep the box in a warm place. Pull out 
and count all that germinate. In this way it is 
possible to approximate what may be expected else- 
where. 

A better way is to place a certain number of 
seeds on a piece of porous paper in a plaster-of-Paris 
dish about six inches square. This dish should be 
set in a shallow pan or plate of water. Cover the 
whole with a bell jar. Keep in a warm place, and 
by the number which sprout the quality of the seed 
may be easily determined. 

The following relating to seed-testing is from an 
article by Johannes Rafn in the Danish Tidsskrift 
for Skovvaesen (Chronicle of Forestry), and the 
Transactions of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural 
Society: 

Mr. Rafn is a seed-dealer, and we more than 
agree with him when he says that " this world is not 
nearly as good as it ought to be, and it happens, there- 
fore, in years when seed is scarce, that old seed is 
put on the market, and very often at doubled prices, 



110 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



) 




and I dare say all will agree with me that it is then 
very useful, by the assistance of the testing estab- 
lishments, quickly to have this substantiated." By 

testing establishments he 
refers to state stations 
for the control of all 
seeds sold. 

In speaking of the in- 
fluence of locality on 
seed, he says: 

" Numerous experi- 
ments have shown that 
the spruce raised from 
seed from Finland grows 
too slowly in the insular 
climate of Denmark, and in the central European 
lowlands, at any rate while it is young; while, on 
the other hand, the spruce from the central Euro- 
pean lowlands will not thrive far north. German 
Scotch-fir does not thrive in Denmark, Scandinavia, 
and Finland, and its cultivation has not given good 
results in the Baltic provinces, while trees from 
Scottish-grown seed seem to have the greatest power 
of resistance in the stormy climate of Jutland. Cies- 
lar further points out that the spruce and larch from 
high elevations do not thrive well in the lowlands, 
while, on the other hand, the lowland spruce can not 



Testing the Quality of Seeds. 

This apparatus consists of a plas- 
ter-of- Paris dish in a tin pie- 
pan. The seeds which have 
germinated show in the illus- 
tration. It is covered with a 
bell jar to prevent evapora- 
tion. 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 111 

thrive in the highlands, and finally, that the Scandi- 
navian Scotch-fir grows considerably slower in the 
Austrian lowlands than their own native fir. 

" All this ought to make it clear to every one how 
important it is, by the aid of seed-testing, to be able 
to secure seed from the places that are likely to be 
most serviceable. 

" Exactly the same difference in the size of the 
seed, according to the place of origin, seems to assert 
itself on the great areas of North America." 

In the testing of seeds, purity from dirt must be 
first considered, and then the percentage of germina- 
tion. The real value of seeds means the number of 
pure and germinating seeds in one hundred. If a 
sample shows a purity per cent of 80, and a germina- 
tion per cent of 90, the real value would be 80 X 90 
-i- 100 = 72. In other words, each one hundred 
pounds 'contains seventy-two pounds of seed capable 
of germinating. 

The price of seed should be regulated by quality 
and not quantity. The real value should determine 
its price. Seeds should be inspected and rated by 
competent government officials. All seeds contain- 
ing pernicious weed-seeds should be condemned. 
Owing to the effects of official inspection, poor Euro- 
pean seeds are shipped to foreign countries. This ac- 
counts at least in part for the wide distribution and ex- 



112 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

treme abundance of European weeds in this country. 
Johannes Kafn claims that the real value of seeds as 
tested by him varied as follows: Abies concolor, Ore- 
gon seed, four tests, real value 7.92-50.42 per cent. 
Colorado seed, seven tests, real value 14.34-60.58. 
Abies pectinata, ten tests, real value 5.68-68.16. 
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, five tests, real value 
7.10-28.48. Larix europaea, seed from the Alps, 
nineteen tests, real value 17.70-56. Picea alba, 
Danish seed, twenty-six tests, real value 10.84-91.09. 
Picea excelsa, Tyrolese seed, thirteen tests, real value 
61.19-90.37. German seed, six tests, real value 
67.48-90.38. Danish seed, four tests, real value 
44.62-76.32. Swedish seed, twelve tests, real value 
73.33-97.61. Norwegian seed, four tests, real value 
55.16-86.91. Finnish seed, five tests, real value 
65.35-97.71. Picea excelsa borealis, Norwegian 
seed, grown north of the arctic circle, five tests, real 
value 43.25-94.55. Picea sitchensis, fourteen tests, 
real value 16.50-79.12. Pinus sylvestris, Scotch 
seed, eleven tests, real value 41.12-95.62. Swedish 
seed, -Q.ye tests, real value 91.98-97.71. Finnish seed, 
seventeen tests, real value 38.45-92.84. Pinus stro- 
bus, Tyrolese seed, four tests, real value 63.80-86.44. 
German seed, eight tests, real value 52.40-86.40. 
American seed, two tests, real value 62.78-93.70. 
Pseudotsuga taxifolia, Oregon seed, four tests, real 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 113 

value 58.83-80.93. Colorado seed, seven tests, real 
value 12.70-86.77. 

In the case of deciduous trees, the following are 
samples of the results of his test: Betula nigra, two 
tests, real value 0.94-33.50. Betula papyrifera, 
seven tests, real value 1.18-17.41. Fagus sylvatica, 
three tests, real value 78.70-94.60. Quercus rubra, 
two tests, real value 58.60-80. In the case of Salix 
purpurea, collected after sixteen days, none germi- 
nated. 

The above is sufficient to indicate how variable 
is the value of seeds on the market. 

Nothing is more unfair and disappointing to the 
farmer or forester than to pay well for seed which 
is partly if not mainly dirt, weed seeds, and infertile 
kernels. To work long and hard in the careful prep- 
aration of the soil, to sow it with care and then to 
reap weeds because of inferior seed, is enough in 
itself to account for the fact that the sons of farmers 
leave the farm and engage in other pursuits. 

The amount to sow broadcast on an acre depends 
upon the kind of seed, the quality of the seed, the 
rapidity of growth of the young plants, and the dan- 
gers to which both seed and plant may be subjected. 

Five pounds of pine seed would stock an area 
as dense as five hundred pounds of oak seed. A per- 
son can not afford to be lavish with seeds, although 



114 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

the larger trie quantity sown, the greater the chances 
of a good stand. 

Whenever seeds are sown a suitable germinating- 
bed must be prepared, otherwise the best of seed will 
fail. The soil must be loose, and the seed must be 
covered in proportion to its size. 

Forest seeds may be sown with agricultural crops, 
such as rye or wheat. Furrows may be plowed at 
intervals of four or five feet. This is an excellent 
way to start oaks, chestnuts, walnuts, etc. Harrows, 
grub-hoes, rakes, or spades may be used, depending 
upon the nature of the soil and the kind of seeds. 
Pigs often, by rooting, prepare an excellent seed-bed, 
to which the fine regeneration in the pine woods of 
our south is often due. 

The accumulation of duff on the surface is often 
a great hindrance to seed germination. The mineral 
soil should be exposed if possible. 

In nature the seed is washed into the soil, or 
blown by the wind into crevices, but in the majority 
of cases it fails to find a suitable nidus. 

It is impossible to state just how deep every spe- 
cies should be covered. One is safe, however, in 
covering seed with a layer of earth twice the thick- 
ness of its shortest diameter. The layer should be 
thicker in loose, dry soil, and thinner in compact, 
moist soil. In many cases it is merely necessary to 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 115 

scratch the seed into the ground with a harrow or 
rake. 

Willow and poplar seed will sprout within ten 
days; white pine and spruce within four weeks, and 
oak, walnut, beech, and maple within six weeks. Some 
seeds will not germinate until the end of the second 
year. In such cases it is better to bed the seeds in 
layers, in a box or barrel, in leaf-mold, for one year, 
and then sow them the second spring. 

In order to have success in broadcast sowing, the 
conditions must be very favorable. In southwestern 
France the sand is covered with brush, and the seed of 
the maritime pine is sown among it. The seed 
sprouts, and a forest forms without further effort. 
The species is an unusually hardy one. In the ma- 
jority of cases it is necessary to prepare the soil and 
cover the seed. 

In some instances it is sufficient to wound or 
scratch the soil with a rake or harrow; in others, a 
grub-hoe may be necessary, and in still others, the 
plow. Tree seed should be sown thinner than wheat. 
It is a good plan to mix it with dirt and sow both 
ways in order to get it evenly distributed over the 
soil. After sowing, it should be raked or harrowed 
into the soil. Sheep have been used to advantage to 
trample it in. 

Partial sowing is sometimes practised — that is, 



116 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

the seed is sown in strips or patches, and not broad- 
cast. In almost every woods there are small patches 
which might be successfully and easily seeded with 
desirable species. 

A good plan is to dibble in the seed here and 
there. A dibble is a pointed instrument of iron or 
wood, with a crosspiece arranged so that it will not 
enter the soil beyond a certain depth. The seed is 
dropped into the hole, which is easily and quickly 
closed with the heel of one's boot. Dibbling might 
be advantageously practised in many of our forests. 
It is an easy and efficient method of gradually im- 
proving a stand by the introduction of more desira- 
ble species here and there. The dibbling in of teak 
seed has been practised with considerable success 
in India. 

Sowing may be done in fall or spring. Nature 
usually sows in the fall. Spring is probably better 
because the seed is not exposed to the dangers of the 
winter. Some seeds sprout in the summer soon after 
they fall. 

On the whole, however, sowing is not satisfactory, 
and in general it is better to depend either on the 
planting of young trees or natural regeneration. 

The advantages of planting, that is, the forma- 
tion of forests by the use of little plants or cuttings 
which have been raised elsewhere, are not fully appre- 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 117 

ciated. In many places, as on our Western prairies, 
where no forests naturally exist, there is of course 
no other way. In regions where the forest consists 
wholly of undesirable and unremunerative species, 
it pays in the end to cut clean and plant afresh. In 
most of our woods the best species have been re- 
moved. The forest weeds and the least useful spe- 
cies have been left, and have complete possession of 
the soil. In order to establish in such places good 
even-aged stands of the most valuable species, plant- 
ing is necessary. To be sure, one can gradually im- 
prove a very poor forest by careful cutting, and by 
the gradual introduction of new species by planting 
here and there, or by dibbling in seed, but the quick- 
est, simplest, and most remunerative way in many 
cases is to cut clean and plant afresh. Whenever a 
forest can be quickly regenerated naturally with the 
species 'desired, it would of course be foolish to 
plant ; but where one is working on land covered with 
a lot of undesirable kinds left over from a lumber- 
man's ravages, with no hope of getting it into desir- 
able shape for many years to come, the best way is the 
shortest and surest — cut clean, and begin at the be- 
ginning. 

Planting may be practised with all species, but 
it is especially adapted to tender kinds which require 
attention in youth, and to species the seed of which 



118 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

is expensive. The simplest form of planting is by 
means of cuttings. This is one of the most important 
means of plant propagation to the horticulturist, be- 
cause of the ease with which valuable varieties may 
be increased. With the forester it is only of use in 
the case of the willows, poplars, mulberries, and a few 
others. A cutting is a detached portion of the ripened 
wood of the parent tree. Good cuttings are usually 
about a foot in length and from one-half to one inch 
in diameter. These slips or cuttings should be placed 
slantingly in the ground with a small portion of the 
tip exposed. A good way to plant cuttings is to plow 
a furrow, place the cuttings carefully in a slanting 
position in the furrow, and then run a second furrow 
to close the first. In case this is not possible, they 
must be planted with a spade or grub-hoe, or if the 
soil is soft, placed in a slanting hole made with a dib- 
ble, and then pressed tight with the foot. In case the 
soil is moist enough, poplars and willows will grow 
luxuriantly in this way. In fact, cuttage is the only 
way in which they are propagated, because of the diffi- 
culty of seedage. If the soil is not fairly fertile and 
moist it is necessary to place the cuttings in good moist 
soil first until they have developed roots, and then the 
following spring plant them where they are intended 
to remain permanently. The willow is extensively 
grown in this way for basket material. The Carolina 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 119 

poplar, which is of value for paper pulp, may be 
easily propagated from cuttings. 

Before planting, we must first assure ourselves of 
good plant material. Little plants may be secured 
in several ways. We may grow them ourselves in 
nurseries from the seed, we may transplant them 
from the woods, or we may buy them of nurserymen. 
At first thought many would say that the second sug- 
gestion is the best — that little plants could be col- 
lected from the woods in places where they are too 
thick by the millions, that they would never be 
missed, and that those which remain would be bene- 
fited by the increase in room. This is, in fact, such a 
poor way that it is rarely if ever practised, because 
it seldom yields good results. Trees from the woods 
are used to woods conditions, such as shade and leaf- 
mold, and when removed, unless heavily pruned, 
sicken and die. They are also of unequal quality 
and age. 

The third method is often practised in places 
where there are good nurseries, and where the kind 
of trees needed may be had in large quantity, good 
quality, and cheap; but in spite of the fact that they 
may be skilfully packed, they suffer more or less 
during transportation. The New York State College 
of Forestry has imported a large quantity of little 
plants from Germany. They were carefully packed 



120 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

in sphagnum moss in large willow baskets. In two 
instances they carried well and have since grown well 
in spite of their long journey across the sea. In 
another instance they were delayed, and were in con- 
sequence moldy, yellow in color, and had begun al- 
ready to sprout. The best of these were planted, and 
many have lived, although in almost every case where 
the tip had sprouted, the sprout withered and died, 
and a lateral bud developed into a leader for the fol- 
lowing year. This was, of course, a great drawback. 
Many died, and even those which lived grew with 
reluctance for some time. The first year a healthy 
two-year-old plant is planted it grows slowly. It must 
first establish itself. At the end of the first year, 
therefore, the terminal bud is not a strong one. It 
grows slowly even during the second year, but in the 
third season good, active growth usually begins. 

If one raises his own plants there is no delay, no 
shock in transplanting, and the little plants are al- 
ready accustomed to the climate in which they will 
remain until cut for wood. These plants can almost 
always be raised cheaper than they can be purchased 
from nurserymen. 

A little tree should grow bushy and not spindling 
at first. This protects the leader from weeds and 
other injurious influences. 

Every farmer should have a permanent nursery 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 121 

on fertile soil, and so located that it can be easily 
protected. An ordinary cold-frame would be suffi- 
cient to supply a large number of young trees. When- 
ever in his travels he finds seeds of desirable species 
he should sow them. In this way, with little expense 
and little trouble, he may have an abundance of good 
plants on hand for planting whenever needed. 

A nursery should be located where it can be 
watched, so that birds and small animals will not 
steal the seeds or injure the little plants. A rich, 
sandy loam is the best soil for the purpose. This 
should be carefully worked and freed from roots, 
stones, lumps, etc. A level piece of land should be 
chosen so that there will be no danger from washing. 
The site should be near a spring, pump, or stream, 
so that watering, if necessary, will not be difficult. 
The spot should be manured, but the manure should 
be free from weed seeds. The manure should be 
composted — that is, manure, humus, or leaf-mold, 
soil and lime, should be piled in a heap in layers. 
Then it should be turned from time to time, and 
thoroughly mixed. This will ferment and rot. It 
should be kept moist, but not too wet. If too dry 
it burns and becomes useless; if too wet it loses 
some of its richness by leaching. Hardwood ashes 
is also an excellent fertilizer, but it should not be 
used in too large quantity. The best and cheapest 



122 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

grade of potash manure is wood ash. It is an all- 
round plant manure. Hardwood ash contains five per 
cent of potash, besides phosphate and the carbonates 
of lime and magnesia. It is Nature's complete fer- 
tilizer, easy to handle, and free from offensive odor. 
When mixed with leaf -mold, which furnishes humus, 
it is still better. Chicken manure and wood ashes 
are often mixed by farmers; but this is a mistake, 
for one neutralizes the strength of the other. Sheep 
manure is excellent. It is difficult, however, to im- 
prove on a compost of manure from grain-fed horses 
with leaf -mold and lime. 

Some prefer to sow the seeds in lines about 
eighteen inches apart. This is best for broad-leafed 
species, but in the case of conifers, it is better to 
divide the nursery into beds by paths between. The 
beds should be about four feet wide and twelve feet 
long. If the soil is moist, the beds should be higher 
than the walks; if dry, lower. On the whole, how- 
ever, it is better to have beds and paths on the same 
level. When the bed is higher than the walk, the 
edges wash down, young plants are washed out, and 
the bed dries out too quickly. It should be so ar- 
ranged that each bed can be covered with a slat 
frame. Plaster laths are good for the purpose. The 
space between the slats should be the same in width 
that the slats are wide. This gives half-shade. Each 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 123 

bed should have a frame-cover which should be sup- 
ported by four stakes, one at each corner, and the 
cover should be elevated about one foot or eighteen 
inches from the ground. This should be so arranged 
that it can be easily moved on or off. Conifers in 
youth require shade and protection. In various parts 
of the world a shelter is formed over the nursery 
similar to a grape-arbor, so that men can work under 
it with ease. A grade of light picket fencing, held 
together by twisted wires and sold by the roll, is ex- 
tensively used on the east coast of Florida for shad- 
ing pineapple fields. This would be excellent for 
small tree nurseries. In tropical countries, especially 
for rubber and coffee, some of the original forest trees 
are left standing in the nurseries for shade. 

The seeds may be sown broadcast in the bed or in 
lines about four inches apart. A quick way to make 
even drills is by means of a batten frame. Several 
battens may be nailed into a frame so that several 
drills of even depth and width may be formed at 
once. This drill-frame may be constructed of vari- 
ous-sized battens, depending upon the depth and 
width of drill required, which depends in turn upon 
the kind of seed, varying from one-half to two inches. 
After the seed is sown the drills may be closed with 
the hand or rake, or by sifting rich dirt over the 
surface. 



124: PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

In order to protect these beds against drought 
and frost, it is well to cover the surface with a very 
thin layer of litter. Great care must be exercised, 
however, in selecting material for this purpose, as 
short straw or hay usually contains the seeds of many 
weeds. Beds are often ruined in this way. Fine 
forest litter is not always free from weed seeds. In 
one case, beds which were covered with forest litter 
in the fall, were filled with maple seedlings in the 
spring. Sphagnum moss has been strongly recom- 
mended for this purpose. 

These beds must be kept free from weeds, and 
where the little plants are too thick, they should be 
thinned. At the end of the second year, in the north 
temperate zone, these conifers should be large 
enough to plant in the woods. 

When larger and stronger plants are needed, the 
seedlings should be transplanted into nursery rows, 
where they may have more room. Transplanting 
does not injure these plants. They are often trans- 
planted several times before final planting in the 
woods. The more they are transplanted in youth 
the better they stand it. The roots become bunched, 
and in many cases root-pruning may be practised if 
the roots are too long and spindling. 

Transplanting is costly, however, and on the 
whole it is better to plant the two-year-olds direct 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 125 

from the seed-bed into the place where they are des- 
tined to remain to form forests. 

It is impossible in this connection to give the 
details of nursery practise. Much, if not the most 
of it, must be learned from experience. Almost 
every species must receive special treatment. 

There is a great advantage in having the proper 
kind of labor. An active boy can do much of it 
quicker, cheaper, and better than a man. In Europe 
the women and children do most of this work. When 
forestry is more extensively practised many girls and 
boys in backwoods districts of this country may thus 
find considerable employment. 

Planting may be done in both spring and fall. 
Which is the better time depends upon various cir- 
cumstances. Many people plant at both times, but 
spring is usually preferred. In spring the time is 
often to'o short when one has several hundred thou- 
sand young trees to plant, and labor may be scarce. 
Just as soon as the terminal bud begins to open 
it is too late to plant. If a tree is planted when it 
has already sprouted, the tenderest and most im- 
portant part of it dies first and dies easily. The 
planting time may be prolonged by removing the 
little plants from the bed and heeling them in a 
cool, shady place so that sprouting is prevented. 
Where the nursery is in a valley, and one desires to 



126 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

j)lant on a high mountain, it becomes difficult. The 
plants will have sprouted while the ground is still 
frozen in the mountains. It is necessary to take the 
plants up the mountain and heel them in. In Swit- 
zerland it is often necessary to heel them in the snow. 
They may be removed from the beds very early and 
placed in an ice-house. I imported, a few years ago, 
a lot of basket willow cuttings from Germany. The 
conditions were such that I could not reach America 
until the latter part of June. These cuttings were 
prepared in March, and placed in cold storage in 
Antwerp until the ship sailed. They were then placed 
in the ship's ice-house. When I arrived in New York, 
although the trees were then in full leafage, my wil- 
low cuttings were still locked in the embrace of win- 
ter. They all grew, however, and are still growing. 

A lot of time is lost fussing with plants. There 
are certain rudimentary principles which must be ful- 
filled, and when these are fulfilled further attention 
is superfluous. Success in planting is dependent upon 
the following rudimentary principles: Remove the 
plant from the nursery with as many roots as pos- 
sible. Keep it moist, and protect it from the sun 
while out of the ground. Plant it so that it will set 
in the ground, when the earth settles, as near as pos- 
sible as it was in the seed-bed. Remove the weeds, 
etc., from its immediate neighborhood. 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 127 

In the case of some plants great care is not neces- 
sary, but with a few which are delicate it is unsafe to 
disturb the roots at all. In this case ball-planting is 
necessary — that is, the plant and earth together in a 
block or ball must be removed. 

When the roots are free from earth they must be 
kept in a paint of mud. In transporting trees nur- 
serymen often puddle them — that is, they dip the 
roots in a paint of water and clay. This clings to the 
roots and prevents drying. 

On the tract of the Xew York College of Forestry 
the writer has found the following method to be very 
satisfactory. When done carefully and in favorable 
weather, 80 per cent live: 

One set of men are supplied with grub-hoes. 
Another set (boys will do if available) are supplied 
with galvanized-iron pails. In these pails a few inches 
of water is put. The pail is then carefully filled with 
two-year-old plants from the nursery, placed so that 
all their roots are well covered with water. 

The men are then lined up in pairs, one planter 
and one grubber. The grubber grubs a soft place 
eighteen inches in diameter. The grub-hoes are well 
sharpened before leaving the blacksmith shop each 
morning, because it never pays to work with dull tools, 
and the grub-hoe must be often used to cut mats of 
roots. As soon as the grubber has grubbed the earth 



128 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

so that it is soft, the planter carefully places the plant 
in the ground with his hands, as nearly as possible 
as it was in the nursery, and then with his foot presses 
the earth tight around it. On they go in line in this 
way all day and every day while the weather per- 
mits. Nothing further is done, and Nature is trusted 
to give a shower now and then, which usually occurs 
in mountainous districts in the spring of the year. 
With large plants more care is necessary. 

Some planting is done with an iron dibble. This 
is quicker, but of use only in soft soil, where there 
are no weeds and roots. Weeds must be removed 
from the immediate vicinity of the little plant. Being 
more vigorous and already well established, weeds, 
especially grass, steal the moisture and nutriment 
from the young plant. In many places and with many 
species, planting in this way would end in complete 
failure. This would be so in dry, sandy districts and 
on our Western plains. 

In Australia little eucalyptus-trees are grown in 
short pieces of bamboo. These are placed perpen- 
dicularly in the ground, and in time rot and are split 
by the growing roots. In other places little baskets 
and boxes containing the plantlets are put in the 
ground, and in other instances, as with coffee, the 
plantlet is grown in a block of turf. It is sometimes 
necessary to plant first, hardy shelter trees. Some 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 129 

trees, such as the chocolate, demand shade and shelter 
throughout their whole life. 

Success in planting on fresh burns is doubtful. 
The blackness draws the heat of the sun. In such 
cases it is best to wait until a young crop of such 
plants as poplar and birch appear, as in the Adiron- 
dacks. In these poplar thickets strips or light thin- 
nings may be cut, and the young plants planted with 
the grub-hoe. In the case of old hardwood forest, 
from which the softwood has been removed, it is prob- 
ably best to cut clean, utilize as much of it as possible, 
and then burn the rest in piles or windrows. As soon 
as the land is cleared, then plant. Every district calls 
for special treatment, depending upon the climate 
and soil. 

The natural regeneration of forests may be effect- 
ed in tvjo ways — by seed and by coppice. A coppice 
growth consists of the shoots which spring from the 
stump when a tree is cut, and of suckers from the 
roots. 

The trees which yield the seed are called mother- 
trees. In natural regeneration the work of Nature is 
hastened by man to a certain extent. The seeds are 
sown by Nature, but man prepares the germinating 
bed by wounding the soil, and regulates the light by 
cutting in such a way that speedy regeneration is 
favored. 



130 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

In the primeval woods the seeds fell and germi- 
nated. Wherever an old tree in falling had ad- 
mitted light, a group of vigorous young trees would 
shoot into the air. Old trees long past their prime 
would prevent the growth of hundreds of young, ac- 
tive trees. These should be removed by the forester, 
provided they serve no purpose as seed or shelter 
trees. In many parts of this country natural regen- 
eration is extremely quick and vigorous, although in 
almost every case it can be improved and hastened by 
the aid of man. In other districts it is slow; so slow 
and uncertain, in fact, that planting is preferable. 

In a mixed hardwood forest it is difficult to pro- 
duce the proper mixture without some planting. In 
the north in many places — the Aclirondacks, for in- 
stance — the spruce and pine have been removed. The 
ground is covered with hardwoods. Most of these 
hardwoods are defective. The hardwoods regenerate 
themselves without the aid of man to such extent 
that the conifers have little show. By being favored, 
the conifers might here and there work in, as in pop- 
lar groves, but in order to get a good even stand of 
these woods it would be necessary to cut the hard- 
woods and plant afresh. Suppressed spruces, which 
have managed to merely exist in the shade of the 
hardwoods, probably seldom develop into good trees. 
Conifers gradually work their way into birch and 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 131 

poplar thickets. In other places one meets with fine 
natural regeneration of pure white-pine and spruce. 

Farmers in many parts of this country have fol- 
lowed the excellent plan of leaving seed trees. Many 
fine stands of pine owe their existence to these seed 
trees. Clumps of trees left in unhandy or inacces- 
sible spots, furnish seed to other locations. It is 
indeed fortunate that islands of vegetation of this 
kind exist. 

In order to be successful in naturally regenerating 
forests from seed, two conditions, at least, are neces- 
sary. The mother trees must be capable of producing 
good seed, and the soil must be in such a condition 
that it forms a good germinating bed. Seed years 
must be watched for and cuttings conducted, to ad- 
mit sufficient light for the seedlings, but not too 
much, and the ground must be wounded in some wav 
so that the mineral soil is exposed. 

This regeneration may be brought about in sev- 
eral ways. Suppose we have a large pine-tree in mix- 
ture with hardwoods, which is mature, and which we 
may desire to cut, but desire also to have it replaced 
by young white pines. We should wait for a seed 
year, and just before the seeds fall we should cut 
away the underbrush and weeds for some distance 
around the tree, also, perhaps, some of the neighbor- 
ing trees, so that its crown will be perfectly free. 



132 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

Then we should wound the soil with mattock, rake, 
or with any other instrument, or in any other way 
that may be convenient. If the seeds are not de- 
voured by animals, or are not blown elsewhere, they 
should sprout in the course of a couple of years. 
When the young trees are well established, say two 
or three feet in height, the old mother tree may be 
removed, and there is left in its place a group of 
thrifty even-aged pines. This is the group or hurst 
method of regeneration. Pines and spruces, or any 
other desirable species, may be thus gradually fa- 
vored in mixed uneven-aged woods. 

An excellent method of regeneration in pure 
woods is by strips cut in such a way that they will 
be seeded by the wind from adjoining woods. If 
we should have a white-pine or spruce woods, we 
could regenerate it by cutting clean strips at right 
angles to the prevailing winds, beginning with the 
leeward side. The strips must not be too wide, how- 
ever, and the soil must be wounded so that the seed 
can germinate. Old fields in our South are often 
accidentally seeded in this way, and swine or cattle 
trample the seeds into the soil. 

Pure forests may be regenerated throughout by a 
series of successive cuttings, with the final removal 
of the mother and shelter trees. Gradually and even- 
ly the cuttings are conducted throughout the old 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 133 

stand in such a way that the new crop replaces the old. 
The first cutting is conducted when the trees have 
reached maturity, and are in good condition to pro- 
duce an abundance of seed. Just as soon as the whole 
ground is stocked with seedlings, other cuts are con- 
ducted to let in more light, but still to leave suffi- 
cient trees for shelter. As soon as the little trees 
are well established the mother trees are completely 
removed. By this system of regeneration fellings, the 
old crop is gradually replaced by the new. The cuts 
should be so conducted that the young crop may be 
even throughout. This has accidentally occurred 
where trees have been gradually removed by wood- 
land owners. Unintentionally, pine woods have thus 
often been splendidly regenerated. In places a few 
young trees may get the start of others, or have 
started before the beginning of the regeneration cut- 
tings. This is called advance-growth. Where even- 
aged woods are desired, this is unwelcome. It may 
have stood many years in a suppressed yet living 
condition in the shade of the old wood. It is, there- 
fore, often not capable of developing into healthy, 
full-sized trees. Where evenness of stand is not 
especially desired, it is not objectionable. 

The methods just described, together with regen- 
eration by means of coppice, constitute the principal 
means of natural regeneration. 



134 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

There have developed certain systems of forest 
management which are classified according to the 
manner of cutting and of regenerating. Notwith- 
standing the complexities of these European systems, 
with their manifold modifications and combinations, 
the methods of forest treatment may be divided into 
four systems which are more or less applicable the 
world over. Each system has its advantages and dis- 
advantages, and must be adapted to the conditions 
which exist in every instance, and its success, above 
all, is dependent upon the knowledge and skill of the 
person who endeavors to apply it. These systems are 
briefly, as follows: 

I. The selection system, which is especially adapt- 
ed to uneven-aged or irregular protection forests. 

II. The system of clear-cutting and then regen- 
erating by planting with young trees, or by sowing 
the seed, or by waiting until the wind sows it from 
an adjoining, forest. 

III. The system of regenerating pure forests 
naturally by uniformly and gradually thinning 
throughout, and admitting light in such a way that 
the seeds will germinate and the young growth prop- 
erly develop. 

IV. The coppice system, where the forest con- 
sists of species which will sprout from the stump or 
the root. 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 



135 



The formation, tending, and cutting of forests 
with regeneration in view, may be briefly expressed 
as follows: 



Formation. 



1. Direct 
sowing of 

seed and 
planting. 

2. Natural 
regenera- 
tion by 

seed and 
by coppice. 



Tending. 



1. Cleaning 

2. Pruning 

3. Thinning 



4. Protect- 
ing 



Cutting with regeneration in view. 



c3 
o 

5 
II. 



71 



III. 



Cutting clean, but in such a 
way that the forest will be re- 
generated by seed from adjoin- 
ing woods ; or cutting clean, with 
the purpose of regenerating by 
direct sowing, or by planting, 
or by depending on shoots and 
suckers. 

Cutting here and there only 
those trees which are mature or 
which for various reasons should 
be removed, but in such a way 
that each tree cut will be re- 
placed by a group of young 
[ ones. 

Cutting uniformly successive- 
ly so that the mature stand will 
be gradually replaced by the 
young growth, leaving some old 
trees for seed and shelter. 



Since regeneration is an important factor in the 

classification of these silvicultural systems, and since 

regeneration is the keynote of forestry, it is proper to 

i 
define these systems more in detail in this connection. 

In the selective system regeneration is conducted 

throughout the forest irregularly by the removal of 

the oldest, largest, or defective trees. When the trees 

which should be removed for silvicultural reasons 

have no value, and when the condition of the forest 

does not warrant the expense which their removal 



136 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



would entail, girdling may be practised. This system 
is especially applicable to uneven-aged mixed forest. 
Cuttings are so arranged that groups of little trees 
replace the old ones. If the forest is large it may be 




Planting at Axton in the Adirondack^. 



divided into sections, so that a section may be treated 
each year, or at other stated intervals. A small 
amount of material is thus constantly supplied, al- 
though the cuttings are scattered, and reaping, there- 
fore, is more expensive per thousand than in places 
where concentration is possible. It is well adapted to 
small holdings, and is the best of all systems for pro- 
tection forests, where the exposure of a large area of 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 137 

soil at one time is objectionable. It is an excellent 
system for the production of park effects where vari- 
ety is desirable. In this system the best is constantly 
favored. It is a process of weeding out the poor kinds 
and favoring the good. The French, in fact, call it 
" jardinage," or gardening. It is just the opposite 
of what has been practised heretofore in this coun- 
try. In our mixed forests the owner often sells 
one species to one man and another to another man, 
and so on till everything of any value whatever has 
been removed. The tree weeds, or worthless spe- 
cies, with the increase of room and light, grow with 
great vigor until in time they may have complete pos- 
session of the soil. In the selective system, by judi- 
cious cutting here and there, wherever possible, and 
whenever financial conditions permit, the weeds are 
cut, and the forest is gradually rendered of greater 
value and of better appearance. To practise this sys- 
tem in an intensive way requires a great deal of skill 
and a great deal of supervision. One must know well 
how the different species act in varying quantities 
of light, since the amount of light determines the 
amount of seed and the kind of young growth which 
will follow. It requires, in other words, a knowledge 
of the science of cecology. This word comes from the 
Greek oikos, a house. It treats of the correlations of 
organisms inhabiting the same locality. It is, in 



138 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



other words, prying into the family affairs and neigh- 
borly relations of the trees of the forest. 

The clear-cutting system does not need much ex- 
planation. It means simply that the forest is cut 
perfectly clean and then regenerated in one of several 




... '.-;:. • . . . . 

Measueing with the Calipers. 



ways, but usually by planting. In this system har- 
vesting operations are concentrated. The system is 
the simplest and in many cases the best from both a 
financial and silvicultural standpoint. The crop may 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 139 

be cheaply reaped in this way, and then one can plant 
whatever he pleases on the place it occupied. T^o 
special supervision is necessary. The work may be 
safely placed in the hands of a contractor. He can 
do no injury. After the slash is removed, the forester 
may conduct his plantings. The soil is exposed to 
the action of sun and wind, and might in some in- 
stances be seriously damaged, especially if located on 
a steep mountain side, or in places where water or 
wind might do injury. Burning over the soil is often 
an advantage, especially in northern districts where 
duff often accumulates to such extent that it inter- 
feres with forest-growth. 

The successive cutting system is applicable only 
to pure even-aged forests, or in pure even-aged groups 
or clumps. When the forest approaches maturity, 
regeneration is effected by a series of carefully con- 
ducted cuttings. These must be begun in anticipation 
of a seed-crop, and the soil must be prepared in such a 
way that the seedlings may reach mineral soil. Large 
accumulations of humus are often a great hindrance 
to the application of this system in many northern 
districts. The system is similar to the common cus- 
tom of leaving seed trees, although the seed trees, 
in this case, are evenly distributed over the whole 
area. They are left also for the purpose of affording 
shelter to the young trees. As the young trees ap- 



140 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



pear upon the forest-floor, a series of progressive thin- 
nings is conducted, and when the young crop is well 




A Corner in the Nursery at Axton. 

under way, and no longer in need of protection, the 
mother- and shelter-trees are completely removed. 

The coppice system is commonly practised in 
our South, where oak and hickory are cut in the pole 
stage for firewood. Large areas of oak are treated 
in this way in Europe, mainly for the bark, which is 
used in tanning leather. Coppice is usually allowed 
a very short rotation, except, perhaps, in the case of 
chestnut, which is especially valuable for telegraph 
and telephone poles. In every case the stump should 
be very carefully cut with a sharp ax. In the case 



THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 



141 



of large stumps, rot begins and extends into the 
shoots. Small stumps often grow over before rot be- 
gins. Three shoots may be left advantageously to 
every stump. If the stumps are cut smooth close to 
the ground, and with sloping top, the coppice of a 
few species will grow into good timber. The red- 




Eiding the Logs in the Kaquette Eivee. 

wood of our "West is the only conifer in this country 

which produces a vigorous coppice. Some of the 

more promising shoots here and there may be allowed 

a longer rotation, or other trees may be introduced 

or encouraged. These are usually called standards, 

and a coppice-growth with a short rotation, with here 
10 



142 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

and there trees which are allowed a longer rotation, 
is called coppice with standards. * The main body of 
coppice, for instance, may be cut every ten years for 
fuel, while the standards may be allowed fifty years 
in order to furnish ties, telegraph or telephone poles, 
pilings, and in some instances, saw timber. 

What might be called a modification of the cop- 
pice system is the pollarding and lopping of trees, 
which is extensively practised in Europe for the pur- 
pose of yielding, at frequent intervals, twigs and 
branches for fuel and various other purposes. 

* In our North the term "standard" is used as a unit of 
measure. It is a log nineteen inches in diameter at the small 
end and thirteen feet in length. It contains about 195 feet B. M. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE TENDING OF FORESTS 

Under the head of the tending of forests should 
be included improvement cuttings and protection. 

1. Improvement Cuttings 
Improvement cuttings include cleanings, prun- 
ings, and thinnings. 

The removal of dead, injured, or otherwise unde- 
sirable trees from a forest is called a cleaning. This 
includes in the beginning the removal of weeds or 
useless species. A weed, in its broadest sense, is sim- 
ply a plant out of place. Species infested with dis- 
ease should be removed. Insects breed in dead and 
decaying timber. Every tree, living or dead, which 
harbors injurious insects, or fungi, or mistletoes, is 
a dangerous center of infection. Brush, injurious 
vines and creepers may do great damage if allowed 
to seed and spread. When forests have been natu- 
rally regenerated, this is very important. After re- 
generation is complete, cleaning is necessary, espe- 
cially in tropical countries, where creepers, epiphytes, 

143 



144 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

and a host of worthless species interfere with the 
better kinds. Aside from the great good accom- 
plished, the forest is improved in appearance by clean- 
ing, which in many instances is a factor worthy of 
much consideration. The removal of dead branches 
might also be classed under the head of cleaning. 
The value of the timber may be much increased in 
this way. A dead branch forms loose knots in boards 
and planks. 

The removal of green branches is called pruning. 
The fewer the branches, the better will be the quality 
of the wood. Trees should be grown in such a way 
that they will naturally shed their lower limbs. Trees 
grown in the open retain their branches close to the 
ground. The greater the power to endure shade, the 
larger will be the amount of limbage which a tree 
develops. On the whole, however, the pruning of 
green branches is not advisable in the forest except 
for esthetic purposes, because it is expensive, and if 
the limbs are large the wound must be covered with 
antiseptic paint in order to prevent rot. The spores 
of fungi collect on the wounds and cause decay, which 
spreads throughout the whole stem of the tree. If the 
wound exceeds two or three inches in diameter, it 
should be covered with creosote, coal tar, or paint, 
which will prevent the entrance and growth of fungi. 
The cut should be smooth, and great care must be 



IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS 145 

exercised so that the bark is not split when the limb 
falls. 

As to just what constitutes the cultural opera- 
tion called a thinning, there is considerable diversity 
of opinion. I have already defined a cleaning as the 
removal of all dead, dying, diseased, and distorted 
stems and weeds. A thinning consists in lessening 
the crowded condition of the crowns of the good 
trees in a canopy, so as to provide room for those 
which remain, as they grow older and larger. Con- 
siderable depends, however, upon the meaning of 
the word " good " in this connection. The good trees 
may not always be the tallest and biggest. What is 
good depends upon the nature of the management, 
and the kind of wood desired. Thinnings should be 
frequent so that the canopy may be lightly and grad- 
ually opened, and not interrupted. As the forest 
grows in age, the number of trees it is capable of sup- 
porting decreases proportionately. As they crowd 
one another some are strangled and in time become 
suppressed and die. Nature will do her own thin- 
ning in her own way. Man, however, can hasten 
and improve the process. He aids her in such a way 
that she can produce better materials in larger quan- 
tity and in a shorter length of time. 

The difference between a cleaning and a thinning 
may be rendered clear by the following example: If 



146 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

in a roomful of men there are several obnoxious per- 
sons, their removal would constitute a " cleaning "; 
if, on the other hand, because of a lack of room the 
reduction of the number became necessary, the re- 
moval of every other person, or every third or fourth 
person, would constitute a " thinning." In thinning, 
however, as in cleaning, although the object is pri- 
marily the reduction of population for the sake of 
space, a process of selection may be practised by re- 
moving the least desirable members of the commu- 
nity whenever this is possible. 

A single tree in the open produces much more 
wood than it would in the forest. The quality of 
the wood produced in the open is of course poor. 
Sometimes only fuel-wood may be the object, some- 
times also living knots may be desired to produce a 
figured board, but this is of course comparatively 
seldom. The largest amount of poor wood per acre 
may be produced in the shortest length of time from 
coppice. A large amount of medium-grade wood may 
be produced in a comparatively short time in open 
woods where each tree may have plenty of space in 
which to grow, and in which there is a large percent- 
age of limbage. The largest quantity of good wood 
can be produced in a closed forest, where thinning 
is carefully practised, and where the canopy is kept 
in such shape that the stems will shed their limbs as 



IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS 147 

the canopy moves upward with the height growth. 
The lower limbs die because of a lack of light. The 
amount of light varies with the climate and the spe- 
cies. In some, regions there is an abundance of light. 
In tropical districts there is too much, in other regions 
not enough. Some trees grow well in the shade, while 
others do not. In dry regions, because of a lack of 
moisture, trees grow singly and seldom form close 
stands. The object of thinning, wherever it may be 
practised, is to keep the canopy dense enough so that 
the trees will shed their lower limbs, and to keep the 
population of the forest in such proportion that each 
tree may have room enough to produce the kind of 
wood desired. The most important part of the tree 
is its crown. The crown regulates the production of 
wood. The smaller the crown, the less wood pro- 
duced. In general, the smaller the crown, until a 
minimum is reached, the better the quality of the 
wood. It grows slowly, however, and the limbs are 
shed while very small. The wood thus produced 
would be almost without blemish. Time is sacrificed 
for quality. Such a forest is not as beautiful as a 
more irregular one. Time also is a very important 
factor. It pays, therefore, to thin carefully and fre- 
quently so that the tree will free itself from branches, 
and still have crown enough to develop a good strong 
trunk, and not a long, spindling specimen which would 



148 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

be unable to stand alone were it deprived of support 
from its neighbors. 

Man may introduce an underwood just as has 
often occurred in nature. Let us have an overwood 
of white pine, for instance, a tree which does not 
clean itself well even in dense stand, because it is 
a semi-shade-endurer ; and after it is well under way, 
let us plant in its shade maple or beech as an under- 
wood. Let us give to each pine plenty of room, so 
that its crown will fully develop, and produce a large 
quantity of wood. The young maples and beeches 
growing beneath will shade its lower branches so that 
they will die and fall. In that way the underwood 
will clean the boles of the pine and will protect the 
ground, and shed at the same time a rich cover of 
leaves which will fertilize the soil, and stimulate the 
height growth of the pine. In this way a good qual- 
ity of white pine may be produced in a compara- 
tively short time. The soil will improve in quality, 
and there will be yielded besides a large quantity of 
hardwood which may be used in the manufacture of 
barrel staves, wood alcohol, and for fuel. 

Much depends upon the species, however. Some 
trees love a close canopy. Thinning, at best, is a 
delicate operation. It is work which requires con- 
stant supervision on the part of the forester, and the 
work above all others which tests his skill. Good 



IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS 



149 



judgment is here a requisite. One should keep his 
forest as uniform as possible. Every tree, from the 
beginning, should have its proper proportion of room. 
The actual number of trees which should be removed 
surprises one. The following table, by Professor 
Schuberg, shows how much is ordinarily removed by 
thinnings in the course of years. This applies to 
spruce, silver fir, Scotch pine, and beech: 



Age. 


Number per acre. 


Space per tree in sq. ft. 


20 


3,960 

1,013 

449 

346 

262 


11 


40 


43 


60 


97 


80 

100 


126 
166 







The- material yielded by thinnings in many coun- 
tries more than pays for the cost of the thinning. 

Of course, in rough woods, such as exist in this 
country, in many places where even lumbering is not 
profitable, it is not possible to practise the finesse 
of forestry. In wood-lots on farms, however, the 
farmer may often increase the value of his forest by 
a little improvement cutting now and then. Often 
two trees may be too close to one another. If left, 
neither would develop into a good tree. If one is cut, 
the other will have opportunity to form a symmetri- 
cal crown. Often clumps of trees are so crowded that 
long, spindling stems have developed. A little thin- 



150 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ning, or a series of thinnings, would stimulate growtli 
and wood production. Often one tree may outstrip 
the others to such extent that its wide-spreading 
branches may hinder the growth of many promising 
young trees. These wolf-trees should be removed. 
And so on, if a man cuts with other purposes than 
the mere reaping of the wood, he may gradually im- 
prove the condition of his forest, increase its pro- 
ductive capacity, and reap, at the same time, con- 
siderable useful wood. There will always be an 
abundance of fuel-wood in this country. Owing to 
the cheapness and convenience of coal this is not 
needed. We want good clean timber for constructive 
purposes. The production of this requires time and 

skill. 

2. Protection 

"No part of the subject of forestry is of more im- 
portance than protection. The protection of all for- 
ests, both State and private, against fire and against 
the careless or malicious actions of individuals, is the 
duty of the State. This should be controlled by well- 
enforced laws, and the State should be held respon- 
sible. The State owes protection to the persons and 
property of law-abiding citizens. This function of 
the State has never been fully performed in the for- 
est districts of this country. 

The subject of protection will be divided for con- 



PROTECTION 151 

venience into the following parts: 1. Protection 
against fire. 2. Protection against atmospheric 
agencies. 3. Protection against injurious insects. 

4. Protection against grazing and browsing animals. 

5. Protection against parasitic plants. 6. Protection 
against weeds. 

1. Protection against Fire. — The greatest enemy 
to the forest in America is fire. With the exception 
of a few instances, from unavoidable natural causes, 
such as lightning, fires are caused either directly or 
indirectly by the carelessness or maliciousness of man- 
kind. Forest fires are by no means confined to this 
country. They occur to less extent in Europe, but 
are not uncommon in Russia, France, and Algeria. 
Fires are frequent in South Africa, Australia, India, 
and Canada. Sufficient space is not ordinarily de- 
voted to this subject even in European works on 
forest protection. Statistics relating to fires form un- 
pleasant reading for those engaged in the administra- 
tion of forests. 

Perhaps of all the fires of the world, the con- 
flagration which occurred in Minnesota in 1894 was 
the fiercest. Not to mention other destruction, six 
hundred people were killed. 

The main causes of fires vary with the district. 
In general, locomotives deserve first place. Fires 
thus caused may be prevented by the construction 



152 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

of the proper kind of fire lanes, the use of spark- 
arresters, and constant watchfulness during the dan- 
gerous season on the part of railroad employees. 
A host of fires is caused by carelessness on the part 
of campers and hunters, and by irresponsible and 
thoughtless persons. A very large number of fires is 
set accidentally by farmers in clearing land and in 
burning over meadows. Fires are often set malicious- 
ly out of revenge, or for some other ulterior motive. 
One of the most serious causes of fire, although per- 
haps not the most extensive, is the time-honored 
custom of burning over forest land for the purpose of 
improving the pasture and the blueberry crop. This 
is a legitimate cultural operation wherever the man 
who owns the property does the burning. • In many 
instances the land is worth more for this purpose 
than for forest. Prof. W. M. Munson, in a valuable 
paper on The Blueberry in Maine, says: " In the 
southeastern part of Maine, principally in Washing- 
ton County, there are about one hundred and fifty 
thousand acres known as the ' blueberry barrens.' 
Much of this land was burned over by the Indians 
before the colonial period, and since the timber was 
removed from the remainder, it, too, has been re- 
peatedly burned to keep down the growth of birches, 
alders, etc., and to facilitate the harvesting of the 
fruit." He mentions one tract of forty thousand 



PROTECTION 153 

acres which is divided into several parts, each of 
which is leased to some responsible party who as- 
sumes the whole care of burning over the land, keep- 
ing off trespassers, harvesting, and marketing the 
crop. Every year a certain section of each " lease " 
is burned over. This burning must be done very early 
in the spring, before the ground becomes dry, other- 
wise the fire burns too deep, the humus is burned 
from the ground, and most of the bushes are killed. 
Unfortunately in many districts, especially in the 
South, the natives burn land which belongs to other 
people in order to improve the pasturage or the 
berry crop. There is no doubt that both pasture 
and berry lands are improved by burning, if the 
burning is conducted carefully at the proper time of 
the year. But the custom is a dangerous one for 
several reasons. It has been practised so long by the 
natives of our South that they look upon it in the 
light of a poor man's privilege and not a crime. It 
has developed in some regions into a custom not un- 
like the peasant rights of Europe. 

Even in forestry, fire may be often used to advan- 
tage in ridding the ground of an excess of humus 
and slash. In the Esterel, in France, where it is 
difficult to prevent fires at certain times of the year, 
the forest-floor is systematically burnt over when 
there is little danger. Every year, from December 



154 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

to February, patches are burnt over with the ob- 
ject of preventing the growth of weeds and the 
accumulation of combustible litter. This method 
should only be resorted to when all others fail. Al- 
though fire may be used advantageously at the proper 
place in the proper time, it is foolish to plant or ex- 
pend any labor whatever in the way of improvement 
cutting on forests without having beforehand ar- 
ranged for ample protection. Forestry is simply 
impossible in districts where fire occurs. 

Fires may be divided into three classes: Crown 
fires, those which burn in the crowns of the trees; 
surface fires, those which burn over the surface of 
the soil; and ground fires, those which burn in the 
humus and duff. Very often these are united into 
one sweeping conflagration. 

Fires may be prevented by patrols during the dan- 
gerous season, by the construction of fire lanes, and 
by removal of combustible materials, such as slash 
and litter, from the surface of the soil. 

If the forest is large, the telephone is of course 
of great value. By means of it fires may be quickly 
located and time saved in securing help. 

Roads and trails are also a great help in that 
they render fires more accessible, and serve as van- 
tage-points in fighting them. 

The effects of fire are practically the same all 



PROTECTION 



155 



over the world: impoverishment of soil, destruction 
of game and its food supply, unhealthfulness, in- 
crease of insect pests, in addition to the loss of wood 
and other property, and injuries to industries which 
use wood and other forest products. 




The Corner of a Compartment in a French Pinery. 

Showing fire lane in front, and on the left, and clean forest-floor for 

the prevention of fire. 

For the prevention of fire, the punishment of 
fire-setters and the construction of wide fire lanes 
along all puhlic wagon-roads and railroads are neces- 
sary. Railroad companies should be required to con- 
struct lanes, broad and clean enough along their 
11 



156 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

tracks, to eliminate all danger from flying sparks; to 
ditch all swamp-lands to water or mineral soil on 
the outer edge of the lane, and to constantly use 
efficient spark-arresters on their engines. Similar 
lanes should be constructed along all public roads. 
In this way, what are now points of danger, from 
which the majority of fires start, would become 
means for the prevention of its spread, and would 
serve at the same time as vantage-points in combat- 
ing it. Whenever possible these fire lanes should 
be kept under cultivation, in other places the brush 
should be cut, and all combustible materials burned 
at a time when there is no danger of setting fire to 
the adjoining woods. Sheep may be used to good ad- 
vantage on fire lanes in some countries to keep grass 
and weeds in check. 

The usual method of extinguishing extensive fires 
is by " back-firing " or " counter-firing." This is, 
however, dangerous work, and should not be at- 
tempted save by those who are experienced and capa- 
ble. Very often the back-fires, set by inexperienced, 
excited persons, have not only resulted in disastrous 
conflagrations, but have rendered the skilful work of 
others of no avail. For the extinguishment of sur- 
face fires, shovels and hard work are usually suffi- 
cient. It is often possible to beat out surface fires 
with a green bough or bush. In the extinguishment 



PROTECTION 157 

of ground fires, or those which burn in the peat of 
swamps, it is necessary to confine them within cer- 
tain limits by digging deep trenches. 

Where fire constantly burns the litter from the 
surface, and prevents the formation of young forests, 
the soil constantly deteriorates, and finally becomes 
sterile and lifeless — literally lifeless — because the 
organisms in the soil which cause the decomposition 
of humus and the conservation of nitrogen are killed. 

It is generally recognized in Europe that the 
construction of suitable fire lanes throughout the 
forest conduces more to the prevention of great 
conflagrations than <any other institution. These 
serve as vantage-points in the fighting of fire, and 
often in themselves are sufficient to prevent its 
spread. By means of fire lanes the country is cut 
into parcels, and the danger of great conflagrations 
very materially reduced. These fire lanes, in order 
to be efficient, must be wide, clean, and well cared 
for, for otherwise they are of little use. They 
should be constructed and kept in order in a way 
similar to the construction of State roads. The in- 
dividual benefited pays part, the community a part, 
and the State the rest. The owner of the land would 
be benefited and encouraged, and the payment of a 
slight increase in tax would be a great and permanent 
investment. Lands which are now a burden would be- 



158 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



come more valuable, and the capital which is buried 
therein would increase, and, if need be, become avail- 




A Fire Lane in France. 

able. The money which the State expended would 
return a hundredfold in increased resources and 
prosperity, and would benefit those who are most in 
need of it. 



PROTECTION 159 

The State or county or township ownership, or 
combined ownership, of a system of fire lanes, should 
be as palatable to the American taste as the State 
ownership of roads. In fact these lanes may serve 
at any time as roads, or may be converted into such on 
short notice at almost any time. In the course of 
time the whole fire-lane system may be converted 
into a great road system, which would add much to 
the value of the land, and increase the value of the 
wood, owing to the ease with which it could be trans- 
ported. Once institute a perfect system of fire 
lanes and patrol under State control, and the 
number and severity of the fires will be reduced 
to such an extent that the evil will gradually 
fade away, and modern systems of silviculture will 
gradually creep in as the value of wood and land in- 
creases. 

The greatest damage done by the lumberman is 
not in cutting the forest. The main purpose of the 
forest is to yield timber, and most of the wood cut in 
the past has been overripe. He has left the ground 
covered with slash, so that destructive fires have fol- 
lowed in his wake. This has prevented natural re- 
generation. If the destruction due to these fires could 
have been prevented, Nature would have replenished 
these cut-over areas long ago. The more the lumber- 
man cuts and the fire burns, the fewer become the 



160 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

seed trees, and the more difficult becomes the natural 
regeneration of valuable kinds. 

Some species are almost fire-resistant, while others 
are extremely fire-susceptible. Certain pines, in spite 
of their resinous nature, are remarkably fire-resistant. 
The yellow pine (Pinus palustris) is a good example. 
Other species, because of the thickness of their bark, 
are practically fireproof, and others, especially hard- 
woods, because of a vigorous coppice-growth, are able 
to survive, even if killed to the ground. The locust 
is often used to fringe plantations, because it drops 
only a small quantity of litter, produces a vigorous 
coppice, and is not easily burnt. It is used exten- 
sively along railroads in Europe. Considering its 
great usefulness for ties, poles, and posts, railroad 
companies might plant it with profit along their 
tracks in forest districts. In case of burning year 
after year, the weakest species perish first, and so on 
until only those species are left which are fire-resist- 
ant. In a country where wood is abundant and cheap, 
fires can not be effectually prevented without the co- 
operation of all hands. The State officials, the wood- 
land owners, the railroads, the courts, and public opin- 
ion in general must unite in their efforts to prevent 
this needless waste. In many parts of our South the 
forest fire is a sign of spring. It creates no greater 
sensation than the migration of wild birds. The pub- 



PROTECTION 161 

lie must be educated, good laws must be passed and 
enforced. In many States there is no end of fire 
legislation. These laws are mainly on paper, and serve 
no purpose whatever owing to a lack of the proper 
kind of machinery for their enforcement. 

Fire protection is the first step in forest con- 
servation. In the British colonies and in France the 
head of each administrative unit or conservancy pos- 
sesses the official title of Conservator. The term im- 
plies protection and preservation rather than propa- 
gation. Conserve the forest — that is, protect it from 
needless spoliation, and Nature will do the rest. 
When this is accomplished, the work of the forester 
will consist in guiding the forces of Nature, lending 
a helping hand to Nature, and finally, reaping the crop 
in such a way that regeneration of the proper kind 
may follow. 

2. Protection' against Atmospheric Agencies. — 
One of the most important destructive atmospheric 
agents to the forester is frost. Two very strongly 
marked geographical lines are the frost-line in the 
South and the timber-line in the North. Frost may 
be wide-spread or local, early or late. The leaf- and 
flower-buds and shoots are killed by late frosts. Early 
frosts prevent the ripening or maturing of the wood 
in the fall. The stems of trees are cracked by winter 
freezing, and young plants are heaved or uprooted by 



162 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

the frost in spring. Species may be divided into those 
which are frost-hardy and frost-tender. 

The severity of the damage depends upon the 
species, the age, and the nature of the locality. As 
a rule, valleys and lowlands suffer more than uplands. 
Holes or hollows in which there is poor ventilation 
suffer most. Areas treated in such a way that some 
shelter trees are left to cover the ground, are less 
damaged than those which have been cut clean and 
planted. Good drainage will reduce the danger of 
frost. By leaving shelter trees and planting strong, 
frost-hardy species, its injurious effects may be re- 
duced to a minimum. 

The conditions of weather favorable to frost are 
a clear sky, a dry air, and a still night. 

In the case of normal leaf -fall, a corky layer forms 
at the base of the petiole of the leaf. It is during this 
process that the changes occur in the leaf which pro- 
duce the gorgeous tints of autumn. When the ten- 
der leaf or shoot is nipped by early frost it is killed at 
once, and in a black and withered condition clings 
to the twig for a long period of time, often through- 
out the winter. 

In our North a large percentage of hardwood tim- 
ber is defective in consequence of frost-cracks and 
ribs. In the case of sudden extreme cold, especially 
in the spring, the trunks of trees crack open with a 



PROTECTION 163 

loud report. This is probably due to the fact that the 
water in the walls of the wood pores is withdrawn 
when it freezes into little crystals on the interior of 
the walls of the pores of the wood. The withdrawal 
of this water causes shrinkage, which is greatest at 
the periphery and nil at the center. A wedge-shaped 
crack, often twenty feet in length, is thus formed. 
Frost cracks are not unlike season checks in logs. 
The sap escapes from the wound, ferments, and black- 
ens that part of the trunk. This is especially notice- 
able in the case of sugar-maples. This sap often 
freezes cold nights in spring, and this tends to pry 
open the split. The tree endeavors to heal over this 
wound year after year, and there results in conse- 
quence a long bulge or rib on the trunk along the line 
of the crack. Large sugar-maples in our northern 
woods which have been injured in this way are very 
common. 

The uprooting of seedlings by ground frost in 
the spring is often a serious difficulty in nursery 
work. The water in the soil forms into ice crystals 
which lift the topsoil and heave the seedlings out so 
that when the crystals melt and the soil falls back 
into place, the little plant is left upon the surface 
uprooted and exposed. In places where the drainage 
is good this is less apt to occur. 

Extreme heat and drought are, of course, injuri- 



164 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



ous to tree-growth. It is indeed wonderful, however, 
the amount of heat and drought which some species 
are able to endure. The best way to meet these diffi- 
culties is to encourage the formation of a thick mulch 
of humus on the forest-floor, and to keep the canopy 






A Shifting Sand-Dune on the Coast op New Jersey. 

as dense and even as possible. The bark of some spe- 
cies is scorched by the sun, and several species, such as 
the hemlock, which usually live in the shade of other 
trees, sicken and die when suddenly exposed to the 
bright sunlight. 

Great damage is done to forests by the winds. 
Limbs are broken and often large areas are uprooted. 
The more the forest is opened up, the greater this 



PROTECTION 165 

danger becomes. Pure forests of shallow-rooted spe- 
cies, such as the spruce, are often leveled to the 
ground by the acre in this way in Europe. The best 
way to prevent the wind's destructive influence is to 
plant deep-rooted species, to preserve protective belts, 
and to cut with great caution. On mountain sides 
where the soil is thin, it is often very difficult to 
prevent serious windfalls. The danger increases as 
the forest grows older and the limbs grow larger. 
Insects and fungi enter the wounds which have been 
produced by the breaking of limbs, and rot soon 
follows. 

Heavy rain often causes considerable damage. In 
tropical countries the leaves of delicate species are 
stripped from the branches by heavy downpours of 
water. Too much rain causes erosion, and helps the 
wind uproot trees by increasing their weight and 
softening the soil. 

Hail is extremely injurious in some countries, es- 
pecially in southern Europe. 

In northern climates great injury is caused by 
snow press. Just as some trees by the flat lateral 
position and pliability of their branches seem espe- 
cially adapted to windy countries, so do many trees 
with their conical form and pliant limbage seem 
well fitted to shed the great mass of snow and ice 
which forms in northern climates. In many instances 



166 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

saplings are bent to the ground and broken, limbs are 
ripped from the trunk, and trees of considerable size, 
especially balsams and spruce, are either broken and 
split, or uprooted. The amount of devastation thus 
caused is often immense. 

3. Protection against Insects. — In the case of fire 
and destructive atmospheric agencies, the danger is 
more or less from without. In many instances it is 
entirely beyond the control of man. All that can be 
done in such cases is to institute preventive measures. 
An ounce of prevention in the case of fire, for in- 
stance, is worth a ton of cure. In the case of many 
great conflagrations which have occurred in this coun- 
try, human efforts in the way of extinguishment have 
accomplished comparatively little. 

Aside from these exterior destructive influences, 
some of the insects and other animals, fungi, or weeds 
of the forest itself, may, for some reason or other, 
become abundant and destructive. This is usually 
caused by a disturbance in some way of the equi- 
librium of the forest. 

There are many disturbing influences at work 
which are constantly causing a readjustment of the 
neighborly relations of the denizens of the forest. 
The introduction of a new species of animal may occa- 
sion a complete readjustment. The mongoos was 
introduced into Jamaica to kill the rats. Almost 



PROTECTION 167 

every animal which lived and nested upon the ground 
was killed. Snakes, lizards, birds, etc., were either 
exterminated or reduced in numbers by this noxious 
animal. Insects increased enormously in consequence 
of the destruction of their enemies. The mongoos 
invaded even the hennery. 

A professor in Harvard University accidentally 
let loose a few specimens of the European gipsy-moth 
near Boston. It increased enormously so that the 
State of Massachusetts has already expended an im- 
mense sum of money in combating it. 

In the forest there are usually three grades of 
insects — the noxious, the neutral, and the beneficial 
kinds. 

Some trees are rarely if ever affected by insect 
pests; the tulip-poplar, the black walnut, and liquid- 
ambar, for instance. Others are constantly infested 
with one or more kinds. It is difficult to find a locust- 
tree of considerable size which has not been more or 
less damaged by the borer (Cyllene robinice). 

There are wood-boring and timber-destroying in- 
sects; there are defoliators, root, bud, and seed de- 
stroyers, and there is an abundance of species such 
as mosquitoes, punkies, and flies, which render work 
in the forest at times extremely uncomfortable. The 
healthfullness of a country may depend upon the pres- 
ence of mosquitoes, since both malaria and yellow 



168 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

fever are carried from person to person by these in- 
fected insects. 

We should encourage the enemies of injurious 
insects, such as bats, toads, snakes, lizards, birds, fish, 
and useful insect-eating insects. We should encour- 
age beneficial birds by preventing the depreciations of 
that most noxious of all animals — the man with the 
gun. 

The cleaner the woods the fewer the breeding- 
places of insect pests. The greater the mixture of 
trees, the less will be the damage. 

It is impossible to do in forestry what is done 
in horticulture in case of the visitation of an insect 
pest. If the forest is infested in spots, and there is 
danger of the spread of the disease, it is best to cut 
down the wood, utilize as much of it as possible, and 
then burn the rest. 

Trees with weakened vitality fall an easy prey to 
insect pests, although healthy, vigorous trees are 
sometimes infested. Some borers are drowned in 
the sap of healthy trees, so that trees which are 
sickly, or which have been injured by fire, are first 
attacked. 

Certain species of insects are often reduced in 
numbers by the use of decoy trees. Trees which are 
crooked and of little use are girdled. Insects, espe- 
cially borers, are attracted to the dying tree, and when 



PROTECTION 169 

they are in greatest abundance the tree is cut and 
consumed by fire. 

Logs cut in the summer must be barked in order 
to prevent the ravages of bark beetles. This is often 
necessary in the case of timber felled by the wind. 

4. Protection against Grazing and Browsing 
Animals. — An excess of grazing is, of course, in- 
jurious to forests; but, as I have already said in 
another chapter, the damage is more the effects of 
abusive overgrazing. Animals such as sheep and cat- 
tle, if hungry, will prevent the growth of trees, and 
injure the soil on hillsides by wearing paths which 
in time induce erosion and landslides. Pastures in 
which there is an abundance of grass are often in- 
vaded tjy trees of various kinds to such extent that 
their presence is objectionable. 

In many regions there is a constant struggle be- 
tween the prairie and forest. Wherever the forest 
must fight fire, browsing animals, and dry winds, the 
prairie is in time victorious. The damage caused 
by deer and other browsing animals, and by gnawing 
animals such as rabbits and squirrels, is insignificant 
in comparison with the injuries due to fire and in- 
sects. Often in nurseries small animals do a great 
deal of mischief in eating seeds and seedlings. The 
English sparrow is fond of the terminal bud of young 
conifers; in fact, almost all injurious animals prefer 



170 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

to feed upon the most vital portion of the plant. 
The extent of injuries of this kind varies with the 
locality, but is seldom wide-spread and serious. Wild 
animals are already so scarce in many districts that 
the majority of people are willing to endure the 
damage they occasion for the pleasure which their 
presence produces. In spite of the injuries which are 
often caused by game animals, forestry and game 
protection go hand in hand. There is no better way 
to protect game than by protecting the forest. The 
destruction of the forest means the destruction of the 
home and food supply of many valuable wild animals. 
The deer in Europe is practically a domestic animal. 
They may be seen in abundance feeding on the grass 
on the fire lanes along the railroads. 

In the case of domestic animals it depends en- 
tirely upon the purpose which the owner of the 
forest may have in view. A legitimate combination 
is not impossible. Some trees are not disturbed 
by cattle at all, and can be safely planted in pastures 
provided the animals are not voraciously hungry. 
Few domestic animals eat the conifers, tulip-poplar, 
liquidambar, or walnut, although the majority are 
passionately fond of the mulberry and other species 
with a sweet palatable juice. 

In many countries cattle are fed upon the leaves 
of trees, and the natives are dependent upon the 




12 



PROTECTION 171 

pasturage which the forest affords. The most objec- 
tionable feature to forest pasturage is the fact that 
the temptation is strong to set fire to benefit the 
grass at the expense of the trees. 

A heavy sod prevents natural regeneration. In 
forests with a dense canopy sod seldom forms. 

Sheep and goats are extremely injurious when in 
large numbers, owing to the fact that they feed upon 
a wider variety of substances than do other browsing 
animals. M. Melard, in his famous paper on the 
Insufficiency of the World's Timber Supply, which 
was read at the International Congress of Silvicul- 
ture, thus speaks of forests and sheep in Australia : 

" Is > there any chance that these very insufficient 
forests will be properly cared for? Unfortunately, 
the negative may be foretold with certainty in a 
country which lives by sheep, and in 1896 possessed 
89,745,000 of them. There is no possible modus 
Vivendi between sheep and forests. In pastoral coun- 
tries the forests universally disappear. Rules and 
prohibitions are useless. They can only be enforced 
in moist years when outside grazing is good. The 
sheep then multiply, because food is plenty. When 
the dry year comes the forest is sacrificed. The pub- 
lic interest is asserted to require that the breeders 
must be saved from ruin at all costs. The forests are 
opened, the hungry animals fall on the youngest and 



172 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

tenderest regeneration, and annihilate it. The forest 
never recovers, but presents many pretty and open 
glades, which soon become ugly blanks. The next 
stage is that of a park-like pasture, with a few trees 
in groups or singly. The end is now at hand. The 
trees are killed by the trampling of the soil under 
them, or by the rapping, barking, and bruising they 
suffer, and the park is succeeded by the bare plain 
or the naked hillside, cut up by ravines. Sometimes 
the ruin is completed at once; for the shepherds are 
fond of extending their boundaries, or ' improving 
the grass ' by burning the forest." 

The extent of the injuriousness of grazing to 
forest-growth is an extremely important question 
to both our western reserves and the sheep industry. 
Mr. GifTord Pinchot, in a recent article on Trees and 
Civilization in the World's "Work, says : " The in- 
vestigations of the Division of Forestry establish two 
things: First, that in certain reserves (including all 
of those in California) sheep grazing should be pro- 
hibited altogether. Secondly, that in the majority of 
the reserves limited sheep grazing may, with suitable 
regulations, be carried on with entire safety to the 
forest. Such reserves are those of Arizona, New 
Mexico, Oregon, and Washington east of the summit 
of the Cascades. In such localities it is purely a 
question of degree. The finest reproduction of the 



PROTECTION 173 

western yellow pine I have ever seen was on a sheep 
range in Arizona, which had been judiciously grazed 
for over twenty years without a break. On the other 
hand, as complete desolation as it has ever been my 
misfortune to look upon, I have seen in the same 
region on an area once famous for the stand of grass. 
Overgrazing was the sufficient cause. Unrestricted 
sheep grazing has this single mitigating character — 
it destroys itself. The permanency of the grazing 
industry in the forest reserves depends altogether on 
its wise and effective regulation by the Govern- 
ment." 

5. Protection against Parasitic Plants. — Forest 
trees are often seriously affected by fungus disease. 
This usually follows when the tree has been injured 
and is of low vitality. Fungus disease follows fire, 
and gains a foothold in the wounds resulting from 
wind and snow breakage. The disease starts from 
centers of infection, and gradually spreads. By the 
removal of the diseased trees from the forest this in- 
jurious influence may be reduced to a minimum. 
Various forms of cancer and witch-broom are due 
to fungus pests. In some cases these fungi have two 
host plants — that is, live part of their lives in one 
form on one species, and a part in another form on 
another species. This is so of the cedar-apple, which 
causes brown, irregularly lobed excrescences about 



174 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

the size of chestnuts on the red cedar or juniper, and 
on the cultivated quince, apple, and other allied host 
plants causes the so-called rust. 

The disease called " damping off " is a serious 
pest caused by the action of several minute fungus 
parasites. It causes the tissues of the seedlings to 
rot close to the ground, and the little plant withers 
and dies in consequence. It is very common in nur- 
series, where it causes the death of a very large num- 
ber of seedlings. It is favored by damp soil, high 
temperature, and humid atmosphere. It may often 
be checked by sprinkling dry sand on the surface, and 
lifting the covers of the seed-beds to permit better 
circulation of air. 

There are many other parasitic plants of a higher 
order which cause considerable damage. Mistletoes 
of various kinds infest a wide variety of species 
in both temperate and tropical districts. A little 
mistletoe (Razoumofskya pusilla) causes witch- 
broom on the black spruce in Northern districts. 
The Southern mistletoe infests the black gum, 
and in the West several species are common on 
conifers. 

6. Protection against Weeds. — The control of 
weeds or undesirable plants is of as much importance 
to the forester as it is to the farmer. To permit un- 
desirable species to gain possession of the forest soil 



PROTECTION 175 

would be like gardening without removing the 
weedy growth. Weeds steal the nourishment and 
moisture from the soil; they choke out young plants 
and thus prevent regeneration; they harbor injurious 
fungi and insects, and are in many ways extremely 
troublesome. This is especially so of climbing 
woody vines and of poisonous plants. A plant may be 
classed a weed in one place and not in another. It 
may serve the purpose of shelter at first, and then, 
later, become noxious. 

Species of the genus Lupinus were so named from 
the Latin lupus, a wolf, because it was thought 
that they devoured the fertility of the soil. Nothing 
could Jbe farther from the truth. Leguminous plants 
improve the soil. The yellow lupine of Europe is 
called in Brandenburg " the gold of the desert." It 
is the woody perennial weeds which are the most 
troublesome, and which grow with great vigor in the 
presence of sufficient sunlight. It is often necessary 
to cut them down to prevent young plantations from 
complete suppression. 

Seeds of leguminous plants, because of their bene- 
ficial influences upon the soil, and seeds of plants 
that yield fruit which attract desirable animals, are 
often sown in the forest in Europe. One of the most 
important works of the forester is in keeping perni- 
cious weeds in check, so that the space and nutriment 



176 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

which they would consume may be more advanta- 
geously used. 

In many districts clambering vines and worthless 
briers and bushes often have complete possession of 
the soil. The various species of grape which mingle 
with the branches of trees hinder, of course, their 
growth, but, owing to their beauty and the value of 
their fruit, their presence is not so odious. It is 
quite otherwise with the poison ivy (Rhus toxicoden- 
dron) which firmly clasps the roots, trunks, and 
branches of trees, and is poisonous to the touch. The 
swamp sumac (Rhus venenata), which is a shrub, and 
often almost a tree, is abundant, and is also poisonous, 
causing a distressing dermatitis, which is often accom- 
panied by serious illness. Another class of extremely 
disagreeable weeds are the climbing, prickly briers of 
the genus Smilax. The most provoking feature of 
these weeds is that when their rhizomes have once 
gained possession of the soil, it is well-nigh impossible 
to eradicate them. Clothing and skin are torn in 
handling them, burning only causes them to sprout 
with fresh vigor, and, if left alone, they soon reach 
the tops of trees, to which they become inextricably 
attached. The only way to get rid of them is to cut 
them down with a bush-hook or machete, and then 
with a grub-hoe dig up their rhizomes, bit by bit 
and year after year, until their extermination is com- 



PROTECTION 177 

plete. In the Isle of Pines there is an extremely 
poisonous shrub or small tree called guao (Rhus me- 
topium), which causes large ugly blisters where it 
touches the skin. The Government should aid in the 
extermination of these dangerous weeds * as it does 
in the case of noxious animals. 

Grasses are often extremely troublesome, espe- 
cially in the tropics, where they reach the size and 
height of trees (bamboos). In many districts there 
is a struggle between prairie and forest, and if aided 
by fire or other conditions unfavorable to forest- 
growth, the grasses of the former are usually vic- 
torious. 

* The State of Colorado paid out nearly $200,000 in an at- 
tempt to exterminate ' the well-known loco-weed (Astragalus 
mollissimus). 



PAET III 

THE INDUSTRIAL IMPORTANCE 
OF FORESTS 



CHAPTEE VIII 

FOREST INDUSTRIES AND PRODUCTS 

"How foolishly men destroy the forest cover without any re- 
gard for consequences, for thereby they rob themselves of wood 
and water! "—Humboldt. 

1. The Utilization of Forest Refuse 

Almost every article on forestry assures us that 
in Europe, where wood is scarce and labor plentiful, 
every twig is utilized. We are assured also that in 
America where labor is expensive, and materials plen- 
tiful, this sort of industry is unprofitable. American 
workmen consider such work a waste of enersjv and 
time. Of course, it is tedious, but, considering the 
gains, it must be classed as one of the most important 
of all forest operations. Nothing is more praise- 
worthy in the development of modern industry than 
the careful utilization of almost every product. In 

many instances the by-product has become the chief 
178 



THE UTILIZATION OF FOREST REFUSE 179 



product. In the production of cotton, for instance, 
the cottonseed oil and meal together form articles 
of great commercial importance. In the utilization 
of the small wood 
of the forest, a differ- 
ent element of society 
may be used from 
those who chop the 
trees and handle the 
logs. It would fur- 
nish employment of a 
light nature in which 
youths, and even 
w 7 omen, might find 
employment. 

Whenever no 
means can be devised 
for the profitable util- 
ization of such mate- 
rials, it is of course a 
waste of time. Many 
claim that, owing to 

the abundance and cheapness of good wood, it is fool- 
ish to talk of using brushwood and forest rubbish. 
Good wood may be put to many uses, but if brush- 
wood can be substituted in many instances just as 
cheaply, and serve the purpose just as well, it should 




Binding Sticks into Fagots in 
France. 



180 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

of course have the preference. The economical util- 
ization of forest materials requires just as much skill 
and foresight as their production. Nothing could be 
more incongruous than the manufacture of grape-vine 
props from the big trees of California. The most 
successful manager is the man who puts everything to 
its proper use. Many wonder at the abundance of 
slash left by the lumberman. The wonder is, how- 
ever, that American ingenuity has not devised a 
profitable means for its utilization. The problem 
simply needs experimentation and the application of 
labor-saving devices. 

The abundance of such materials, many claim, is 
a hindrance. In case a great variety of uses is de- 
vised for this material, its abundance is an advantage 
in that it insures a cheap and lasting supply. Its 
utilization will save other more valuable materials. 
The manufacture of paper-pulp from large spruce 
logs when small spruce logs will do just as well, is a 
waste, in that the log is not being used for the pur- 
pose for which it is most fit. As forests are better 
cared for, this waste material will decrease in quan- 
tity. The ideal forest is the one in which there is 
the greatest amount of the best material and the 
smallest amount of the poorest. 

This stuff is chemically and physically the same 
as large timber. It exists, unfortunately, in the 



THE UTILIZATION OF FOREST REFUSE 181 

form of small pieces, which are tedious to handle, and 
contains a large percentage of bark. If uses can be 
devised for this material, one of the greatest prob- 
lems of forestry will be solved. One of the first steps 
in the development of forestry was the removal of 
slash. The most economical disposal of this sort of 
material is a subject of constant discussion even in 
Europe. Its removal reduces the number of fires 
and the effects of fire. It renders fire-fighting much 
easier; in fact, would eliminate the most pernicious 
feature of American lumbering. Slash interferes 
with the growth of young trees, and serves as a 
breeding-place for injurious insects. The immunity 
from fire and pest which its removal insures, would 
be worth at least half as much as it would cost to 
patrol the forest and extinguish the fires during the 
fire season. 

When one sees people picking with eagerness 
over a pile of garbage, or hauling old iron and old 
rubber shoes long distances over rough country roads, 
or practising hundreds of other apparently unprofit- 
able economies, it would seem that there ought arise 
a use for the millions of tons of cellulose which rot 
in the woods. It is not the twigs nor the leaves which 
do the damage, but the tops and limbs, in which there 
is often a great deal of good pulp and fuel-wood., and, 
in many instances, saw stuff. The leaves and small 



182 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

twigs should not be removed, because they rot and 
enrich the soil. It is the slash and brushwood which 
menace the forest and prevent the hope of its renewal 
on cut-over land. 

Wood has been so abundant that its proper utili- 
zation is just beginning to be considered. The very 
word " lumber," as has been already explained, car- 
ries with it the notion of rubbish. 

In a large part of the Old World sticks are cut 
about a foot in length with an implement not unlike 
a butcher's cleaver. The sticks are then pinched into 
a bundle called a fagot. These bundles of sticks are 
excellent for starting a fire, and are quite as good as 
the bundles of kindling which are sold in our large 
cities. If it pays to convert good pine and spruce 
wood into kindling, it ought pay to convert sticks 
into fagots. At any rate, there is demand for kin- 
dling. The ordinary refuse of the forest in "parts of 
Europe, especially France, is not sufficient to supply 
the demands for fagots. Various systems of lopping 
and pollarding are therefore practised. The tall, 
slender poplars, which are so characteristic of France, 
are divested of all their side branches for the purpose 
of furnishing fagots for fuel. One great objection 
which Europeans have to the American locust is that 
the spines interfere with the preparation of fagots. 
These fagots are in great demand at the bakeries, be- 



THE UTILIZATION OF FOREST REFUSE 183 

cause they give a hot, quick fire, which produces a 
thick, brown crust on bread and pastry. 

In the case of willows the pollard system is prac- 
tised. The top is cut back to within a few feet of the 
ground. These twigs are too valuable to burn. They 
are used as twine to tie up grape-vines and fruit 
trees on trellises, and also for baskets, crates, pan- 
niers, etc. 

Often various species of trees are cut close to the 
ground every few years. The coppice shoots from 
the stumps are turned into fagots. It is, however, 
not only for fuel that these fagots are used. They 
have other very important uses. Every engineer 
knows /the value of brushwork. When the bundle 
of sticks is bound with one band it is called a bavin; 
when two bands are used it is called a fagot. These 
are called " fascines " by engineers, and are used in 
building earthworks, filling ditches, protecting river 
banks, and in constructing dams and jetties. The 
force of a wave is dissipated by a facing of brush- 
work. It is broken into hundreds of harmless wave- 
lets. 

There are, no doubt, other uses for brush. The 
time will come when we shall subject it to a process 
of destructive distillation for the wood alcohol, wood 
gas, acetic acid, and a host of other useful chemi- 
cals which it contains. Even the ashes of hardwood 



184 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

brush is a product well worth considering. Man has 
never yet devised a more useful fertilizer. 

When there is a scarcity of wood for paper manu- 
facture, this brushwood will be ground into pulp. 
It is fairly free from hard knots, and is certainly not 
essentially different from older wood. 

For pulp or cellulose there are endless uses. In 
addition to paper, pails, and other useful objects, the 
compo-board will come more and more into use. On 
these compo-boards we can paste choice veneers, 
thus retaining the beauty of the natural product, be- 
ing in fact in many respects an improvement. The 
twentieth century has its possibilities in this as well 
as in other lines. 

Between the brush and common merchantable 
fuel-wood there is a grade of wood from one to two 
inches in diameter which is ordinarily wasted, al- 
though the best kind of fuel-wood. It can be easily 
converted into a fine grade of charcoal. This is the 
kind of wood ordinarily used for charcoal in Europe. 
It is a great labor-saving fuel in that it needs no 
splitting, dries quickly, is easy to handle and easy to 
cut. There is no better fuel in the world than hard- 
wood sticks ranging from one to two inches in diam- 
eter. 

We have exalted notions in reference to wood, 
and have always used too good wood for fuel pur- 



THE UTILIZATION OF FOREST REFUSE 185 

poses. The fuel question is bound to take care 
of itself in the regions east of the Mississippi 
River. If we devote our energies toward the pro- 




A Coniferous Forest in Maine. 

duction of the finest grade of saw stuff, there will 

always be slash enough to supply fuel demands. 

By paying great attention to the production of 
13 



186 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

first-class saw stuff we will reduce the amount of 
refuse. 

Sportsmen should be especially concerned in the 
removal of rubbish from the woods, in that it facili- 
tates hunting; in fact, would permit hunting in re- 
gions in which it is now practically impossible. 

2. The Lumber Industry 

Except, of course, in the deserts and plains, there 
w r as an abundance of magnificent timber of many 
kinds throughout this country. It existed in tangled 
profusion. ~No wonder the Indian set fire to facilitate 
hunting. He had little use for the wood. He was, 
in fact, powerless in its presence with his clumsy axes 
of stone. 

"Wood is a peculiar substance. It has endless 
uses, and is consumed in immense quantities where 
plentiful. Yet it is possible to live with little 
wood. Its value depends very often upon the abun- 
dance of substitutes, such as coal, stone, iron, and 
other materials. In Italy an exceedingly small 
amount of wood is used. The props of grape-vines 
are often cut from solid granite. Almost every 
Italian is a good stone-mason, while in this country 
almost every boy is skilful with hatchet and saw. 
The Eskimo builds his house of rocks and ice, and 
warms his body by wearing furs and eating fat. 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY 187 

In many places where wood is scarce, houses are 
constructed of mud or sods. Cow dung is often dried 
for fuel even in Germany, and only a few years ago 
corn was used for fuel in place of wood in Kansas. 
The great value of wood is due to its beauty and 
variety, and to the fact that it can be easily worked 
with tools, and easily held in place with nails and 
glue. A very important feature of timber is the man- 
ner in which it conducts itself toward nails. Some 
timbers split easily when nailed, while others hold 
nails tenaciously. One of the virtues of hemlock 
timber is the way in which it grasps nails. A nail 
holds a board fast, but the firmness with which it 
holds it' depends upon the firmness with which the 
wood holds the nail. Some woods are valuable be- 
cause they prevent nails from rusting. A nail never 
rusts in teak-wood. 

The early settlers of this country were armed 
with a mighty weapon and implement. It was the 
iron ax, by means of which the primeval woods were 
conquered. The American ax has been improved by 
many Yankee inventions until it is now the finest ax 
of all the world. Its development has been aided by 
the presence of hickory for handles. The genus 
Hickoria is peculiar to North America. 

Soon ships were built and sawmills constructed 
along the streams, and lumber was exported to vari- 



188 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ous parts of the world. Railroads soon rendered other 
regions accessible; huge sawmills were in time con- 
structed, and the great lumber industry was pushed 
to its utmost to supply the needs of a progressive, 
wood-using people. It has swept across this country 
like a voracious monster, and in the great forests of 
the far West is now having its richest harvest. It is 
rapidly devouring the substance which keeps it alive. 
Soon there will be insufficient food material for these 
enormous mills. The day of the little mill will come 
again. The industry will be forced to content itself 
with smaller and poorer stuff until the time comes, 
as it must come to every progressive, wood-using peo- 
ple, when wood will be protected and exploited in 
such a way that a constant supply for all time may 
be assured. 

The nature of timber varies, of course, with every 
locality, and the methods of working it vary accord- 
ingly. In the North the white pine has been and is 
still the king of soft woods. Although Michigan, Wis- 
consin, and Minnesota are classed as the great white- 
pine States of America, white pine was once more or 
less abundant throughout the northern and north- 
eastern United States, and in eastern Canada. The 
amount which has been cut must be reckoned in bil- 
lions of feet, and the amount of capital concerned in 
hundreds of millions of dollars. The natural range 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY 189 

of the white pine covers the area between the for- 
tieth and fiftieth parallels of latitude east of the 
plains. It extends southward also along the Appa- 
lachian Mountains to the southern limits of Tennes- 
see and North Carolina. It has reached its optimal 
growth in the latitude of about 45°. 

The following in reference to the exhaustion of 
the white pine is copied from the American Lum- 
berman : 

" It is true that white pine had been growing 
scarcer and scarcer in districts tributary to water ship- 
ment, and it had also been known to have been cut 
out rapidly in the interior of Wisconsin and Minne- 
sota; but never until this year has it begun to dawn 
upon the minds of distributors of white-pine lumber 
that there was an actual scarcity of the wood, and that 
its end was in full view. This year, more than in any 
year since the development of the Northern pine for- 
ests began, has the scarcity of white-pine stumpage 
and lumber been significantly impressed upon the 
minds of the people. Witness the hegira of lumber- 
men to the South within the past year or two. Wit- 
ness also their western flight to the Puget Sound 
district, to the California Slope, and to the inter- 
mediate districts of Idaho and Arizona." 

In the North the owner of timber land usually 
sells the timber to the lumberman at a certain stump- 



190 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

age price. The purchaser is concerned only with 
the removal of the timber. He leaves the ground 
covered with inflammable slash, and has little or no 
regard for the young trees which should form the 
future forest. He leaves few seed trees, and fire and 
destruction follow in his wake. 

In the North the felling of trees with ax and saw 
begins early in the fall and continues until winter. 
The trees are converted into logs, and snaked out by 
teams of oxen or horses to the skidways. When 
snow and cold weather come, the logging roads are 
packed and sprinkled with water so that the great 
sled-loads of logs may be moved with little effort. 
These logs are hauled to the bank of a stream. When 
the spring thaw comes and the stream begins to swell, 
the logs, with the aid of cant-hooks and peavies, are 
rolled into the water. 

These streams are often prepared at great expense. 
Dams and sluices are constructed, and rocks blasted 
so that the logs may have sufficient water, and avoid 
obstacles which would occasion jams. 

With the flush of water the drive begins. When 
all goes well, the great mass of logs glides easily 
with the current. There must be booms here and 
there to prevent the logs from backing into sloughs, 
or into the bushes along the flooded stream banks, 
and the drivers must be ever alert to prevent the 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY 191 

formation of jams which cause delays and waste of 
timber, especially when dynamite is necessary for its 
extrication. A single log may get twisted and cause 
a tangled mass. The skilful river-driver scampers 
like a squirrel from log to log, and in spite of danger 
releases the key log which causes the trouble, and the 
whole moves on again toward the sawmill. 

In this way the logs are floated, or rather driven, 
to the mill. They move from the water to the saw 
and pass out in the form of lumber to the yards or 
cars, and are then transported to the lumber dealers 
in many parts of the world. 

The history of a tree from the time it starts in 
the forest until the boards which it yields are used, 
would form an interesting and, in many instances, 
an exciting story. 

Very often, as in Canada, these logs, when they 
reach larger streams, are tied together and rafted long 
distances. The common raft consists of a few logs 
side by side. On this the rafters with their families 
often live in rudely constructed shanties. These 
float, sometimes sail, long distances down rivers. 
Often several such rafts are bound together and 
towed by tugs. The visitor to Germany will see 
many such rafts of long straight tree-stems from the 
Black Forest bound down the Ehine to the Low 
Countries at its mouth. 



192 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

Other means of transportation are replacing the 
river drive. Only those timbers which float high can 
be successfully driven. Therefore, to properly utilize 
the forest resources, the river-drive system is inade- 
quate. Furthermore, it fills the stream with bark and 
dirt, renders the water unpalatable, monopolizes the 
stream for a large portion of the year, and is harm- 
ful to the fish, especially trout and other desirable 
kinds. 

Many and varied are the devices to divest our 
mountains of their mantle of green. Timber-slides, 
flumes, cable-tramways, and logging railroads are ac- 
complishing the work with praiseworthy skill, but 
with destructive consequences. 

Thus hundreds of square miles of our northern 
woods have been cleared of spruce and pine, and mil- 
lions of young trees are sacrificed in exploiting the 
timber which is of merchantable size. 

Every good tree which grows adds to the wealth 
of this nation. It will grow on soil which is fit for no 
other purpose, and yields a material with almost limit- 
less uses. When mature it should be cut and utilized, 
but waste and destruction is nobody's gain even in 
the presence of apparently inexhaustible resources. 
The white pine of the North has contributed so much 
to the material prosperity of this country, that it 
seems little more than good business to protect and 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY 193 

encourage the young growth on which we must de- 
pend for future supplies. 

Inseparably associated with the pine and spruce 
of the North is the hardy French-Canadian, an ex- 
cellent laborer, who loves the life of the lumber-camp 
and the work in the north woods in spite of its dangers 
and hardships. 

The conditions of lumbering in the South differ 
from those in the North in many respects. There is 
no snow and no river-driving. The season fit for 
work in the woods is longer and less rigorous. The 
country is mostly level, and the trees, as in the case 
of the, yellow pine, are often so far apart that one may 
drive through the woods without meeting with serious 
obstacles. In Georgia, for instance, the ground be- 
tween the trees is covered with grass, and fires are 
set every year to improve the pasturage. 

The trees are not cut into logs in the woods as is 
the case in the North. The tree-stem, after the limbs 
and top have been removed, is swung under the axle 
of two large wide-tired wheels, and hauled through 
the woods by teams of mules or oxen. The stems 
are thus partly carted and partly dragged to the rail- 
road or sawmill. At the mill they are converted into 
floor-boards, finishing-boards, planks, or any one of 
the many kinds of lumber for which these southern 
pines are useful. The work of conversion is done 



194 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

quickly because of the danger of insect and fungus 
injuries incident to warm climates. The logs are 
sawn into lumber as soon as possible, or kept in water 
to prevent checking, and the boards are kiln-dried at 
once to prevent checking and bluing. 

Here the laborer is mostly the negro, who, al- 
though perhaps not as good as the Northern work- 
man, is nevertheless good if managed by men who 
know him well. 

Many claim that forestry is, after all, only an 
improved form of lumbering. It is true, no doubt, 
that in the change from lumbering to forestry there 
will be no revolution, but an evolution. One point, 
however, is certain, that between the lumbering of to- 
day and what may be called forestry, there is a wide 
gap, and this gap consists mainly in the fact that the 
forester protects and fosters the young growth for 
which the lumberman has apparently no regard what- 
ever. 

In the swamp-lands of the South other methods 
of utilization are practised. Railroads have exten- 
sively developed owing to the ease with which they 
can be constructed, and to the immense amount of 
labor which is saved by their use. In many places 
the logs are hauled or jerked out of the swamps to 
the railroads by steam and wire cables. Where the 
swamps are intersected by waterways, scows with 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY 195 

steam power, called " pull-boats," pull the logs 
through the soft mud of the swamp in the same way. 
These logs are then transported by boat, or rafted to 
the mills. This method is practised with cypress and 
cedar along our Southern rivers and bayous. 

The portable sawmill is a compact piece of ma- 
chinery which may be easily moved from place to 
place. The mill is transported to the timber rather 
than the timber to the mill. Where the lumber is 
to be used on or near the spot where it is cut, this 
is, of course, a very economical method, especially 
where farmers, here and there, have small quantities 
of materials which they may want converted at home 
for home use. The use of the portable, or vest- 
pocket sawmill, is destined to increase, especially in 
countries such as the pine lands of our South, where 
the number of feet per acre is usually small. 

It is in the far West, however, where lumbering 
runs rampant. In the great Douglas-fir and redwood 
forests of the Pacific Slope the greatest difficulties 
have been encountered and overcome. The immense 
size of the trees and the roughness of the ground 
have necessitated the development of peculiar meth- 
ods and special machinery. Everything is done on a 
gigantic scale. An Eastern lumberman once re- 
marked that he would be content with the slabs from 
a Western mill. At the town of Madera, for instance 



196 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

(the word " madera " is the Spanish for lumber), a 
shipping point in the San Joaquin Valley, the timber 
is transported from the mountains by a flume fifty 
miles in length. 

It is difficult to fell such trees, difficult to trans- 
port them to the mills, and just as difficult to convert 
them into lumber. Many of these logs are more than 
ten feet in diameter. 

In felling these huge trees an undercut is chopped 
on one side. Several cutters may work at the same 
tree at the same time. On the other side a saw is 
used until the ax- and saw-cuts nearly meet. Wedges 
are inserted in the saw-cut to force the tree over 
in the proper direction. It often requires two men 
full half a day to wedge over a single tree. The fell- 
ing of such a tree without rendering it useless, re- 
quires great experience and skill. Such a mass of 
wood in falling on rough ground, if improperly han- 
dled, would be shattered into useless fragments. 

The removal of the bark, which is often eighteen 
inches thick, is no small job. In peeling such logs 
wedges and crowbars are necessary. 

The logs are sawn into proper lengths, and are 
then either dragged out by ox-teams or jerked over 
the ground by means of wire ropes and steam power. 
The traction engine, commonly called the " tractor," 
is very extensively used in our Western country. It 



THE LUMBER INDUSTRY 197 

is probably, considering all things, the cheapest and 
most useful power for all common purposes. In the 
case of very large logs, splitting with explosives is 
often necessary. Mammoth sawmills have naturally 
developed to fit such mammoth timber. 

Besides the lumber already mentioned, think of 
the telegraph and telephone poles and railroad ties 
which extend from ocean to ocean a dozen times! 
A map of the railroads of this country resembles a 
huge cobweb. Under the rails there are billions of 
ties. Think of the piles used in wharf and bridge 
construction, of the fences around almost every 
field, of the fuel-wood which is used in cooking our 
food and warming our houses, and in operating our 
industrial establishments! Think of the wood used 
in house, boat, and car construction; of the wood 
in furniture and agricultural implements ; of the wood 
in barrels, tubs, buckets, baskets, and boxes! The 
uses of wood are, in fact, manifold. The desk on 
which I write is of walnut, the trimmings of the room 
are of chestnut, the floor is of oak, some of the fur- 
niture is cherry, mahogany, willow, and what not, 
the doors are of white pine, the waste-basket is of 
willow, the wood of my pencil is cedar, the cigar-box 
on my table is West Indian cedar, my eraser is of 
rubber, the mucilage on my desk, if pure, is the gum 

of a tree, the cork in the bottle is the bark of a tree, 
14 



198 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

and even the paper on which I write is simply wood 
in another form. 

3. Wood-Pulp and Cellulose 

It is of interest to note that the word " book " 
comes from the old Germanic word for beech, be- 
cause the Anglo-Saxons and Germans wrote on 
beechen boards before paper was used. Also that 
the word " library " comes from the Latin " liber/' 
the bark of a tree. The first paper-makers were 
hornets, which scrape off the weather-worn wood of 
stumps, rails, and boards, and convert it into a kind 
of paper out of which they construct their nests. 

The amount of wood which is consumed in the 
manufacture of paper is immense. A prominent New 
York newspaper uses one hundred and fifty tons of 
paper daily. One fails to appreciate the magnitude 
of this amount without actually seeing it in bulk, or 
taking part in the handling of it. To produce this 
amount of paper, two hundred and twenty-five cords 
of spruce-wood are consumed. It requires one and a 
half cords of wood to produce one ton of paper-pulp. 
As the spruce ordinarily occurs in our northern 
mountains it averages about five cords to the acre. 
Of course in Europe, especially in Saxony and Bava- 
ria, where large quantities of spruce are raised for 
this purpose, it grows in dense, pure stands. One acre 



WOOD-PULP AND CELLULOSE 199 

there produces many times as much as the average 
acre in this country. Here it is scattered and mixed 
with other trees. Although there are 3,787,688 peo- 
ple, or 660 to the square mile in Saxony, 26 per cent 
of this little country is in forest, and most of these 
forests are pure spruce. The management of these 
forests is extremely simple. The forest is cut clean 
when mature, and then planted afresh. In Saxony, 
the paper-pulp manufacturer is the most powerful 
ally of the forester, in that he uses the thinnings 
of the forest, which begin while the forest is still 
young and continue throughout its whole exist- 
ence. , 

The newspaper referred to, and there are many 
others which use quite as much, consumes therefore, 
in one year, all the spruce on 16,225 acres of land 
as it grows naturally in our northern mountains. At 
this rate our spruce supply will fail in the course of 
time, and then other woods will, no doubt, be more 
extensively used for this purpose. 

The Carolina poplar is a good paper-wood. It is 
easily propagated from cuttings, and afterward re- 
generates itself naturally. Tulip-wood is used in 
the manufacture of paper for our common postal 
cards. 

Common newspaper material is simply wood, from 
which bark and knots have been removed, which is 



200 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ground into a pulp and then pressed into paper. In 
the case of cellulose, the wood is disintegrated and 
the fibers released by means of chemicals. 

This material is extensively used in the manufac- 
ture of pails and other useful articles. It may be 
pressed into durable boards; in fact, even into solid 
doors. 

The pulp manufacturer is in a position from 
which he can not easily escape. His plant represents 
the investment of perhaps a million dollars, while the 
plant of the lumberman is worth only about ten or 
twenty thousand dollars. In consequence of the great 
amount of capital invested, he must remain in the 
business for a long period of time or suffer a serious 
loss when the wood supply is exhausted. The lumber- 
man owns the land not for the land's sake, nor for 
the amount and quality of timber the land is capable 
of producing, but for the crop which covers it. He 
buys it, uses it, and then abandons it. He pays taxes 
on it only during the process of reduction. The pulp- 
man, on the other hand, is tied to the soil. His heavy 
investment makes him fearful as to future supplies. 
For this reason, with commendable foresight, some of 
the pulpmen are buying the land with the timber, and 
are beginning to work the woods in such a way that 
future supplies may be assured. The demands of the 
future are bound to increase. Cheap paper means 




yfy^xj/fi 



MAPLE-SUGAR AND SIRUP 201 

cheap books, and good cheap books and papers mean 
much pleasure and profit to many people. In the 
Orient a good grade of paper is manufactured by 
hand by the natives from the inner bark of the paper 
mulberry. 

4. Maple-Sugar and Sirup 

The maple-sugar and sirup industry is of special 
interest because it is the only forest industry in this 
country which is scientifically developed. It is also 
a much more extensive industry than people ordi- 
narily suppose. 

Over 50,000,000 pounds of sugar and 3,000,000 
gallons of sirup are manufactured every year from 
the sap of the maple-tree. The State of Vermont is 
the leader, having produced in one year about 15,- 
000,000 pounds of sugar and 100,000 gallons of 
sirup. The sugar, or rock-maple, is the principal 
source of the product. 

This is truly an American industry; in fact, we 
are indebted to the Indian for the first knowledge 
of it. He tapped the tree, collected the sap, and boiled 
it in rude receptacles. We practise to-day the same 
old method, although it has been much improved. 
The product is of course cleaner and the implements 
better. 

The first products of our forests were peltry, 



202 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

drugs of various kinds such as sassafras, lye from 
hardwood ashes, and sugar. 

The following is from an old letter printed in 
The Pioneers; or, The Sources of the Susquehanna, 
by J. Fenimore Cooper: 

" I procured from my friend Henry Drinker a 
credit for a large quantity of sugar-kettles. He also 
lent me some potash-kettles, which we transported 
as best we could, sometimes by partial roads on 
sleighs, and sometimes over the ice. By these means 
I established potash-works among the settlers, and 
made them debtors for their bread and laboring uten- 
sils. I also gave them credit for their maple-sugar 
and potashes at a price that would bear transporta- 
tion, and the first year after the adoption of this plan 
I collected in one mass forty-three hogsheads of sugar 
and three hundred barrels of pearl ashes, worth about 
nine thousand dollars. This kept the people together, 
and the country soon assumed a new face." 

The old method was to " box " the tree in a 
rough manner. At the bottom of the cut, or " box," 
a shingle or hollow reed was inserted, down which the 
sap trickled into a pail on the ground. The repeated 
wounds, the fermenting of the sap on the tree-trunk, 
and excessive tapping, soon ruined the trees. It was 
then discovered that an auger hole was quite sufficient. 
At first a hole one and a half inches in diameter 



MAPLE-SUGAR AND SIRUP 203 

was bored. Now a tliree-eiglitli-incli bit is used. 
The hole should penetrate into the sap-wood only, and 
should never exceed one and a half inches in depth. 
Into this hole a neat galvanized iron spout or spile is 
inserted. On this a covered kettle is hung. 

When the buds begin to swell the flow stops ; the 
spout should be removed, and the hole should be 
tightly plugged with a wooden stopper. One spout to 
each tree is sufficient. A maple-tree thus carefully 
tapped will yield an abundance of sap for more than 
a century. 

In the old method an open kettle was hung over a 
fire in tjie woods. In it the sap was boiled. When 
sufficiently evaporated the liquid would granulate 
into sugar. This was tested by dropping a little 
upon the snow. This is the " sugar snow " which is 
usually present at that time of the year. 

To-day there are cleaner methods, with spouts that 
do not rust, pails with lids, modern evaporators, ther- 
mometers, and usually a neat little sugar house to 
protect the workers and the liquid. 

The old-time " sugaring off " was equal to the 
vintage-time of Italy, the grinding season in the land 
of the sugar-cane, and the corn-shuckings of our Mid- 
dle and Southern States. 

There is great possibility of extending this indus- 
try to many other parts of this country. All through 



204 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

the mountains of the Appalachian system the sugar- 
maple will grow and produce good sugar and sirup. 
From it many delicious confections may be produced, 
and for hot-cakes in cold weather no sirup can equal 
that of the maple because of its peculiar woodsy 
flavor. 

5. Resin and Turpentine 

In the inner wood of pine-trees there are ducts 
called resin-ducts, which are full of a substance known 
as crude turpentine or resin. When the bark is re- 
moved and the wood is cut, this material exudes in 
large quantities, and completely covers the wound. 
Perhaps, indeed, this may be the purpose of this mate- 
rial, because it is not the sap of the tree. It is pro- 
duced locally in the inner wood by special organs or 
ducts. 

Immense quantities of crude resin are collected 
in the pineries of our South ; in fact, this country sup- 
plies a large part of the world's demand. 

It is generally called the naval-stores' industry, 
because these materials are extensively used in filling 
the seams of wooden ships to prevent leakage; in 
oakum, which is used in calking, and on ropes to keep 
out the water and thus prevent rotting. For this pur- 
pose tar is used, and this is manufactured in another 
way, as will be explained later under the head of 
Wood Distillation. 



RESIN AND TURPENTINE 205 

In the collection of crude turpentine the surface 
of the tree is scarified for a few feet from the butt. 
At the bottom of this blaze a deep cavity is cut. This 
is called " boxing." Into this cavity the crude tur- 
pentine drips from the wound above. 

The material as it escapes from the tree consists 
of resin, which is dissolved in the spirits of turpentine. 
On coming in contact with the air some of the tur- 
pentine evaporates, so that the resin is left in a more 
or less fluid condition, depending upon the amount of 
turpentine which it contains. 

The crude resin is collected and transported to 
the distillery, where the pure resin and turpentine are 
completely separated. In consequence of such treat- 
ment the tree dies in the course of a few years and 
blows down, burns down, or is cut for lumber. 

Although this country has for many years sup- 
plied a large part of the world's demand for these 
extremely useful substances, the industry is doomed 
in time to destruction unless there is a change in the 
manner of exploitation. In the pine forests of 
France, a very different method is practised. The 
tree continues to yield crude resin for a long period 
of time, and is only slightly, if at all, injured by the 
process. Instead of scarifying the whole side of the 
tree and cutting a deep cavity at its base, the French 
in Gascony cut a narrow groove, which is lengthened 



206 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

each year, and at the base of which a small earthen- 
ware pot is fastened in which the crude resin collects. 
This groove grows over in time and another is cut on 
another part of the tree. The tree is not injured by 
this process, and the products are of better quality. 
Other trees produce other kinds of useful resins, 
such as Canada balsam, spruce gum, Venetian resin, 
and even amber is the resin of an extinct conifer. 

Turpentine is extensively used in the manufac- 
ture of paints and varnishes, and to a limited extent 
in medicine. Resin is used in the manufacture of 
soap, varnish, wax, cement, paper-sizing, etc. 

This industry has gradually moved southward, 
and will last, of course, as long as the yellow and 
Cuban pines last, but their days are numbered unless 
more careful methods are practised, although they 
still exist in more or less abundance over an immense 
area of territory throughout our Southern States. 

6. Tanning Materials 
The process of converting hides into leather by 
the use of tannic acid is called tanning. Tannic acid 
is very abundant in the vegetable world. It is yielded 
by leaves, wood, and fruits of many trees. Oak has 
been extensively propagated for a long period of time 
in Europe because of the value of its bark for this 
purpose. Immense quantities of hemlock bark have 



THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OP WOOD 207 

been used in this country. The tan-bark industry was 
of such importance at one time in the eastern United 
States that hemlock-trees were cut and stripped just 
for their bark. The wood was allowed to rot in the 
forest. Owing to the scarcity of hemlock-trees, and 
to the introduction of other tanning materials from 
southern countries, the industry is no longer of so 
great importance. 

Quebracho-wood, from which tannin is extracted, 
is now shipped in large quantities from South Amer- 
ica to Europe and this country. When this supply is 
exhausted, other tannin-yielding plants will be util- 
ized. The black mangrove-tree (Avicennia nitida) 
of the tropics is rich in tannin and extremely abun- 
dant, although located in unhandy and unhealthy 
places. 

7. The Destructive Distillation of \\ t ood 
A forest industry which is growing in importance 
is the destructive or dry distillation of wood. A re- 
tort is filled with wood. Under this there is a fur- 
nace. After the retort is filled a cover is tightly ad- 
justed. Leading from the lid there is a tube which 
is coiled or zigzagged, and over which cold water runs 
during the process of distillation. The wood is heated 
to a temperature of from 600° to 800°, depending 
upon the kind of wood. 



208 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

The water in the wood is first driven off in the 
form of steam by the heat. A gas called wood-gas 
is also produced. This may be used for illuminating 
purposes. It is usually conducted back into the fur- 
nace by means of a small pipe. A deep-brown liquid, 
with the flavor of tar and smoke, is produced. From 
this a great variety of useful chemicals is manu- 
factured. Charcoal, which is almost pure carbon, 
remains behind in the retort when the process is 
complete. The products are practically as follows: 
uncondensable gases, tarry matters, pyroligneous 
acid, and charcoal. Most of these products are useful 
in the arts. The acetic acid, or pyroligneous acid, is 
purified and sold as vinegar. The wood spirits, or 
wood alcohol, is used for many purposes. It is simi- 
lar to the alcohol of whisky and brandy, except that 
it is poisonous, although in diluted form it is used as a 
beverage in parts of the Orient. 

In the case of the distillation of the heavy pine- 
woods, a large quantity of tar is produced- In the 
old-fashioned method of tar production the wood, 
especially the fat-wood and pine-knots, were collected 
and put in a kiln. This kiln very often consisted of 
nothing but a pit in the ground on a hillside, into 
which the wood was put. To the top of this a fire 
was set. The heat caused the tar to ooze out of the 
wood and trickle down to the bottom and out through 



OTHER COMMON FOREST PRODUCTS 209 

a tube into barrels fixed ready to receive it. In this 
old-time method many valuable products were lost 
in the smoke. 

The modern method of wood distillation is a very 
economical and at the same time simple method of 
charcoal manufacture. In this way wood of little 
value, such as knot-wood, and crooked branches, may 
be utilized to good advantage. Wood contains many 
chemicals, varying with the species of tree, some of 
which may be used in divers ways. Charcoal is an ex- 
cellent fuel for cookery, in that it emits no disagree- 
able odors. It is almost exclusively used in warm 
countries', because it can be used in braziers and small 
portable furnaces, and does not necessitate the use 
of a stove or the construction of a chimney. 

8. Other Common Forest Products 
In addition to the products already mentioned, 
forests yield many other useful articles. Bark is 
often woven into rope. Cork is the outer bark of an 
oak-tree which grows in the region of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. The flowers of the magnolia, evergreen 
branches such as the holly, and Christmas trees are 
sold in immense quantities in our large cities. Sev- 
eral trees in this country yield edible nuts which 
are of great value, such as the walnut, pecan, and 
chestnut. In Southern Europe the chestnut is a very 



210 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



important food material. Chestnut flour is exten- 
sively used in the making of bread. In every part of 




The Flowers of Magnolia Glauca. 
From " Garden and Forest." 

the world the forest yields a great diversity of prod- 
ucts. It is in the tropics, however, where the greatest 
variety of useful materials is produced. 



CHAPTEK IX 

FOREST TREES AND PRODUCTS OF THE TROPICS 

" Of the wheels of public service that turn under the Indian 
Government there is none more important than the Department 
of Woods and Forests." — Kipling. 

How little we really know of the vast resources 
of the tropics. The woods of the Amazon Basin 
have an almost priceless value. " Nowhere in the 
world/' says Agassiz, " is there finer timber, either 
for solid construction or for works of ornament; and 
yet it is scarcely used even for the local buildings." 
Probably one-half of the whole land surface of the 
earth is between the tropics, and fully one-half of this 
has hardly been explored. The very richness and 
luxuriance of the tropical forest has hindered its de- 
velopment. Civilization, in spite of the cold, or 
rather with the help of cold and fire, could use 
to better advantage, in the beginning, the great 
coniferous forests and the grain and grass-yield- 
ing plains. The conquest of the tropics is the 
work of the future. The trade between east and 

west is between countries of practically the same 
15 211 



212 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

capabilities. The trade or exchange between north 
and south is destined to increase enormously. It will 
be the exchange of products of two unlike zones. 
The soil of the tropics is soft, and encumbered with 
luxuriant weeds. Transport is difficult, and efficient 
labor is often scarce and hard to handle. On the 
other hand, there is less danger from fire. Nature 
is most bountiful, and the number and variety of 
species of woods and other products are enormous. 
Capabilities are here, in fact, limitless, but proper 
development will require the application of much 
energy, skill, and patience. 

Think of the great myrtle family, including about 
2,800 species, some of which are the most valuable 
plants on earth! Think also of the order Meliacese, 
including about 550 species, many of which have no 
equals as timber-producers! 

Think of the mahwa-tree (Bassia latifolia) of 
India. Few, except those who have visited the Orient, 
have ever heard of it. Yet it yields a never-failing 
crop of food, wine, and oil to many poor people, to 
say nothing of the countless other creatures which 
feed upon it. Birds and squirrels feast in the branches 
by day, and at sunset the pea-fowl and deer of the 
jungle steal out to feast on its succulent corollas. 
From the flower of this tree intoxicating spirits are 
manufactured to such an extent that on the island of 



FOREST TREES AND PRODUCTS OF THE TROPICS 213 

Caranja alone the duty collected by the Government 
amounts to £60,000 per year. From the fruits an 
oil is expressed which is worth about $175 per ton for 
the manufacture of soap. But few of us have heard 
of one of the most famous trees of India — the cham- 
pak. This is a beautiful tree of the magnolia family, 
with sweet-scented flowers and valuable wood. It is 
one of the sacred trees of India, and is planted around 
the temples of the Brahmans and Buddhists. The 
flowers, when dried, form the commonest drug of 
India. Most of us know the clove-tree, a native of 
the Moluccas, but cultivated extensively in Zanzibar, 
the unopened flower-buds of which form the spicy 
cloves of commerce. The petals of the ilang-ilang 
(Cananga odorata) and other trees of the tropics are 
of great value for perfumes. 

An extremely handsome tree is the allspice, or 
pimento, of Jamaica. The pimento plantations, or 
walks, as they are called in Jamaica, are formed in 
the following way: A piece of woods containing a 
few pimento-trees is cleared of all wood except these 
trees. This wood, however, is allowed to remain upon 
the ground and rot. Soon young pimento-trees ap- 
pear here and there, and at the end of about two years 
the ground is vigorously cleaned of all rubbish and 
brush so that the young pimento-walk may grow with- 
out hindrance. The berries are collected while green, 



214 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

soon after the fragrant blossoms fall, and after dry- 
ing, constitute the allspice of commerce. 

Of the many tropical nuts only two are well- 
known to northern people. These are the Brazil-nut 
and the coconut. The Brazil-nut is yielded by a 
majestic tree of the Amazon Valley. The nuts are 
formed in a hard, round shell, about twenty in num- 
ber. The shell is six inches in diameter, and so hard 
that an ax is used with which to crack it. The col- 
lection of these nuts is a festival-time for the In- 
dians, who pack them in baskets and ship them down 
the great river in large quantities to the city of Para. 
There often comes with the Brazil-nuts a smaller, 
finer-flavored nut. It is the sapucaia-nut. Although 
very similar to the Brazil-nut, it is formed in an urn- 
shaped vessel, six inches in diameter, with a lid at its 
tip. When the nuts are ripe the lid flies off with an 
explosive pop. This fruit is sometimes called mon- 
key-pot, and its scientific family name is lecythis, 
which is Greek, meaning oil-flask. The full name of 
this tree is Lecythis zabucajo. 

With the coconut we are all familiar. Although 
an extremely beautiful and useful tree it yields wood 
of inferior grade. This is so of the palms in general, 
although palm-wood and palm-leaves are extensively 
used in tropical countries by the natives for house 
construction. The trunks of palms are usually 



FOREST TREES AND PRODUCTS OF THE TROPICS 215 

spongy in the center. The outer wood of the coconut- 
palm is called porcupine-wood, because when cut in 
a certain way the fibers resemble the quills of the 
porcupine. 

The production of coffee and chocolate should be 
classed as forest industries, because they are shade- 
demanders, at least in youth, and grow well under 
forest conditions. This is especially so in the case of 
the chocolate. In Trinidad a tree called Erythrina 
umbrosa is used so much to shade the cacao-trees that 
the Spanish natives call it the " Madre de Cacao," 
or the mother of the chocolate. It is, however, more 
of the nature of a nurse than a mother tree. The 
seeds of the chocolate, which are about the size of a 
chestnut, are formed in a gourd-like pod which hangs 
from the trunk and larger branches. These " beans " 
or nuts, or, to be accurate, " seeds," are removed 
from the pod, carefully cured, and then shipped 
north to be converted into various grades of choco- 
late. 

The term " nut " is very loosely applied. It is 
often used for want of a better term. It usually 
means a seed with a hard shell which does not open 
when ripe. In this category are classed many dis- 
similar seeds, such as the coconut and chestnut. 
Another peculiar " nut " is the " musk-nut," or nut- 
meg, a well-known forest product. The fruit con- 



216 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

sists first of an outer covering similar to the black 
walnut. The next coat is a network of aril, which 
forms the mace of commerce. Then there is still a 
thin shell which contains the hard, rich seed. This 
is the common nutmeg. Mr. H. O. Forbes, in his 
book entitled Naturalist's Wanderings, describes a 
visit to the nutmeg groves of Banda, in the Spice 
Islands of the East Indies. He speaks of finding him- 
self, after only a short walk from the town, " under 
a delightfully shady canopy of tall kanari-trees and 
among the groves of nutmeg of which Banda is the 
famous garden." 

Similar to the chocolate is the cola-nut of Africa, 
which is being extensively cultivated in the tropics. 
The product is used in a similar way, although it is 
claimed that cola is a choicer product than chocolate 
or coffee. The nuts furnish a nutritious and stimu- 
lating beverage rich in caffeine, the active principle 
of coffee, and theobromine, the active principle of 
chocolate. They contain more starch and less oil 
than chocolate, and are therefore more easily di- 
gested. The citrate of caffeine which is used in sea- 
sickness and nervous complaints may be readily ob- 
tained from cola. If half that is claimed for this 
product is true, it must be rated as one of the most 
valuable trees of the tropics. 

By far the most useful product of the tropical 



FOREST TREES AND PRODUCTS OF THE TROPICS 217 

forest is the caoutchouc, or crude rubber. This mate- 
rial is called india-rubber because it came originally 
from India, and " rubber " because it was first used 
for rubbing out pencil-marks. Caoutchouc is the 
South American name. The great value of this sub- 
stance is mainly due to its impermeability and marvel- 
lous elasticity. It is produced in immense quantities 
by several species of trees throughout the tropics. 
It is the juice or milk of the tree, which is collected 
and prepared in many ways. 

The common rubber-tree, which is used so exten- 
sively as a pot-plant in our houses, which grows 
month after month without dropping its rich, glossy 
leaves, with its roots crowded in little pots, and with 
an amount of abuse that would kill many of our 
native plants, is none other than the rubber-tree of 
the East Indies which has yielded part of the rubber 
of commerce. 

The greatest rubber port in the world is at Para, 
a large city at the mouth of the Amazon. It is the 
valley of the Amazon which produces a very large 
proportion of the best rubber of the world. 

The tree which yields South American or Para 
rubber is called Hevea brazilensis. The milk from 
which it is formed comes from ducts in the inner 
bark. The collectors are Indians, each of whom car- 
ries a small ax and a ball of adhesive clay. With his 



218 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ax, as high as lie can reach, the collector cuts a deep 
gash in the tree. Under this he sticks with his clay 
a small earthenware cup. On the same tree, day after 
day, he cuts many gashes and collects with care the 
quota of milk-white juice which each gash yields. 
Every day he trots from tree to tree, the quicker the 
better, and empties the contents of the cups into a 
kettle or calabash. 

The calabash is the fruit of a tree, about the size 
of a melon, with a shell so hard and yet so light that 
it forms an excellent ready-made vessel in which to 
carry liquids. 

When he reaches his hut with the milk he kindles 
a fire of wood and palm-nuts in a bottomless clay 
jug or pot. This is placed on three small stones so 
that a draft is produced, and there pours from the 
nozzle in consequence a stream of hot, white smoke. 
The milk is poured gradually upon a paddle, which is 
turned in the smoke until the gum changes its color 
and coagulates into rubber. 

This is hung to dry in the sun for a few days, is 
then sent to Para, and then to other parts of the 
world to be manufactured into bicycle and wagon 
tires, overshoes, coats, mats, belts, hose, and a host 
of extremely useful articles. 

The Brazilian rubber-tree in a suitable climate 
grows rapidly. One tree in Ceylon grew to be six 



FOREST TREES AND PRODUCTS OF THE TROPICS 219 

feet seven and a half inches in diameter, three feet 
from the ground, in seventeen years. 

Another great rubber-tree is a native of Central 
America and Mexico. It yields the Panama rubber 
of commerce. It is known to botanists as Castilloa 
elastica. The family name of this tree is a modifica- 
tion of the word Castile, a province in central Spain. 
This species is being extensively cultivated by Amer- 
icans in southern Mexico, especially on the Isthmus 
of Tehuantepec. 

A valuable substance similar to caoutchouc, called 
" balata," is produced in the northern part of South 
America. It is the juice of the inner bark of a large 
tree, called by botanists Mimusops balata. The 
Dutch of Dutch Guiana call it " paardenfleisch," or 
" horseflesh," because of the color of its wood. The 
milk is drunk by the natives, and when diluted with 
water is used as cow's milk. Balata is mixed with 
true rubber for various purposes. It is also used in 
the manufacture of beltings, and it is said that it may 
replace gutta-percha, which is now scarce, for pur- 
poses of insulation. 

Very few species of plants yield good rubber. 
Many plants are called rubber producers, but the 
product is usually of low grade in consequence of the 
presence of resin. The Brazilian rubber, which is the 
best, grows in regions unfit for human habitation. 



220 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

The Central American rubber is the species which 
will be most cultivated in the future, because it will 
grow on the uplands on well-drained soil. 

Milk is manufactured in the tropics from the albu- 
men of the coconut. The white albumen is ground 
extremely fine, and mixed with sufficient water to give 
it the consistency of cream. It is. then used on fruit. 

A common tree in the Sandwich Islands is the 
candle-nut, from which ten thousand gallons of oil 
are annually produced. This is a good drying oil for 
paints. 

There are hundreds of tropical trees which pro- 
duce oils, tanning materials, and medicines of many 
kinds. The most important of all medicinal trees is 
the cinchona. This is the tree which yields Peruvian 
bark, from which quinin and other valuable alka- 
loids are extracted. It was named for the Countess 
of Chinchon, vice-queen of Peru, who was cured of 
the fever by the use of its bark. It is a native of the 
valleys of Peru, but is now cultivated throughout the 
tropics. The exploration and settlement of many 
fertile tropical districts would have been impossible 
without it. 

A very valuable genus of trees for the tropics is 
the Eucalyptus. There are many species adapted 
to many soils. They are natives of Australasia, but 
are now common throughout the warm regions of the 



FOREST TREES AND PRODUCTS OF THE TROPICS 221 

world. Several species reach an enormous height, 
and grow with wonderful rapidity. It is generally 
believed that in swampy districts these trees prevent 
fever. Certain species consume large amounts of 
water, and thus drain the soil, while others grow in 
dry regions. They yield an oil which is used for 
many purposes. 

Tropical forests produce numerous dyewoods, one 
of the most important of which is Brazil-wood. The 
word " Brazil " means dyewood. 

Another valuable dyewood is called camwood. 
This material is shipped in large quantities from 
Western Africa to England for the same purposes as 
Brazil-wood. 

Another important dyewood is logwood. Its sci- 
entific name is Hcematoxylon campechianum, which 
translated means " redwood from Campechy." It is 
common in the West Indies, Central America, and 
Mexico, and is shipped in large quantities to ~New 
York. 

An interesting tropical tree is the gamboge-tree. 
Gamboge is a yellow dye and water-color. The word 
is a corruption or change of the name " Camboja," 
which is Cambodia in India, whence it comes. A 
spiral incision is cut half-way round the tree, and 
at the end a joint of bamboo is placed ready to re- 
ceive the juice. When the joint is full it is heated, 



222 PEACTICAL FORESTRY 

and the juice hardens into the gamboge sticks of com- 
merce. The genus Garcina, to which the gamboge 
belongs, consists of several valuable species. The 
delicious fruit called mangosteen and other fruits and 
nuts belong to it. 

A very valuable East Indian product is camphor. 
Its scientific name is Cinnamomum camphora. To 
this same genus belongs the cinnamon of Ceylon. 
Formosa is a great camphor island. The industry is 
now in the hands of the Japanese, who became the 
possessors of this island after the war with China. 
The tree yields also excellent timber. It is a most 
beautiful tree, growing to a large size and living to a 
ripe old age. The flower is white and the fruit a 
small red berry. In order to extract the camphor 
the tree is cut down and converted into small chips. 
These chips are boiled in water. The camphor passes 
off with the steam and congeals in the form of white 
crystals in a cool chamber or condenser. Five million 
pounds are exported every year from Japan. Carved 
chests of camphor wood to keep out insects are com- 
mon in the Orient, especially at Hongkong and in 
the Philippines. 

In addition to those which have been already men- 
tioned there are many other valuable tropical forest 
products, the most important of which are timbers 
and precious woods. 



FOREST TREES AND PRODUCTS OP THE TROPICS 223 

One of the most valuable East Indian woods is 
teak (Tectona grandis). It is highly prized in Eng- 
land for ship-building, car construction, and orna- 
mental work. It is the most important tree of Java 
and India, and has been for many years a royal tree. 
By " royal tree " is meant a tree which, because of 
its superior qualities, has been reserved from time 
immemorial for the sole use of the Government or 
ruling personages. No native of India could cut it 
from the public domain for his own use. The wood 
has a pleasant aroma, and rich brown color. It is ex- 
ceedingly durable and strong, does not crack, warp, 
rust nails, or shrink, and takes a handsome polish. 

A wood which is shipped north in large quantities 
from tropical America is ligmim-vitse. This is one of 
the hardest and toughest of all woods. It is used in 
the manufacture of ship's blocks, pulleys, bearings 
in machinery, tenpin balls, etc. 

Various woods are known as " lancewood," which 
is used for carriage shafts, whip-handles, tips of fish- 
ing rods, spars for small boats, etc., because of its 
lightness, strength, and elasticity. 

A heavy black wood familiar to all is ebony. So 
heavy is it, in fact, that it sinks in water. This is true 
of many tropical woods. Ebony is the heart-wood of 
several species of persimmon, the best of which is 
Diospyros discolor of the Philippine Islands. 



224 * PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

We always associate heavy densely fibered woods 
with the tropics, but some of our finest light woods 
grow there also. The best of these is the Cuban 
cedar (Cedrela odorata), which is extensively used for 
cigar-box manufacture, as a finishing wood, and in 
boat-building. This is not a true cedar. It belongs 
to the order Meliacece, which includes many other 
valuable timber species. It is a broad-leafed tree, 
and in no way resembles a cedar except that the wood 
is aromatic and faintly red in color. The tree resem- 
bles the English walnut. We have, in fact, no true 
cedars in North America. The true cedars belong to 
the genus Cedrus, and are well represented by the 
deodar of India and the cedars of Lebanon. The West 
Indian cedar is a very rapid grower and produces a 
very useful and valuable wood. To this same order 
belong the satinwood of India (Chloroxylon swie- 
tenia), the redwood (Soymida febrifuga) of Coroman- 
del, the toon of India (Credela toona) or the red 
cedar of Queensland, the African mahogany (Khaya 
senegalensis), and the king of all woods, mahogany 
(Swietenia mahogoni). 

All are familiar with this hard, fine-grained, rich 
reddish or yellow-brown wood, which is used so much 
in cabinet-work and is known in all parts of the world 
by its Indian name, mahogany. The tree is a native 
of the West Indies, Central America, and Mexico, 



FOREST TREES AND PRODUCTS OF THE TROPICS 225 

and is one of the most majestic of trees; for although 
others may rise to a greater height, the mahogany, 
like the oak and cedar, impresses the spectator Avith 
the strongest feeling of its firmness and longevity. 
In the rich valleys among the mountains of Cuba, and 
those that open upon the Bay of Honduras, the ma- 
hogany grows to such perfection that it is difficult to 
imagine a vegetal production combining in such a 
degree the qualities of elegance, strength, and use- 
fulness. The tree is, in fact, just what one would ex- 
pect of such a wood. If the time ever comes when 
forestry is practised in the great fertile, tropical wil- 
derness to 'the south of us, this tree and the Cuban 
cedar will deserve first place. 

Many other important tropical forest trees might 
be mentioned; many have yet to be named and tested, 
and many no doubt will have special uses because of 
their peculiarities, which are not known now, but will 
be known some day when physicians discover the 
causes and cures of fevers which at present infest 
these regions to such extent that even exploration, 
not to mention exploitation, is dangerous. 



PART IV 
STJPPLEMENTAR Y 



CHAPTER X 

THE PRINCIPAL FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 

"Some, at least, of the forest reserves should afford perpet- 
ual protection to the native fauna and flora, safe havens of ref- 
uge to our rapidly diminishing wild animals of the larger kinds, 
and free camping grounds for the ever-increasing numbers of 
men and women who have learned to find rest, health, and recre- 
ation in the splendid forests and flower-clad meadows of our 
mountains. " — President Roosevelt. 

The following is mainly compiled from the re- 
ports of the General Land Office, the United States 
Geological Survey, and the Bureau of Forestry of the 
Department of Agriculture. 

In general, North America may be divided as 
follows : 

The Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, beginning 
with New Jersey and extending southward along the 
Appalachian chain and westward to the Texas Prai- 
ries and the Ozark Highlands. This is the land 
of the Southern pines; but wherever the soil is 

not too sandy there are dense growths of many spe- 
226 



16 



228 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

mountain peaks, and in which, where moisture is 
sufficient, growth is constant and extremely luxu- 
riant. 

Most of the Federal forest reservations are lo- 
cated on the Pacific Coast and in the mountainous 
districts of the arid regions. 

By an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1891, 
the President of the United States can withdraw 
from sale and entry and set apart by proclamation 
parts of the public domain. These are called Forest 
Reservations. 

Presidents have used this power freely, so that the 
area reserved, including national parks, approximates 
in round numbers 50,000,000 acres. Owing to the 
facts that the boundaries of these reservations are 
still not permanently settled in every case, that new 
reservations are being added from time to time, and 
that within these reservations more or less land is 
owned or claimed by private parties, it is impossible 
at the present time to more than approximate their 
area. 

These reservations are set aside for three im- 
portant purposes: First, the preservation of the tim- 
ber; second, the preservation of natural curiosities 
and extraordinary scenery; and, third, for the con- 
servation of the water supply. 

National parks differ from forest reserves chiefly 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 229 

in the fact that no lumbering can be carried on 
within them; that the mining laws, except in the 
case of the Mount Rainier National Park, do not 
apply to them; that their game animals are fully pro- 
tected, and that they are under the care of the troops 
of the regular army, assigned to that duty by the 
Secretary of War, but under the orders, for that pur- 
pose, of the Secretary of the Interior, and reporting 
to him. The best known and the largest of the na- 
tional parks is the Yellowstone, with an area of 
2,142,720 acres, located in Wyoming, with small por- 
tions in Montana and Idaho. The others are the 
Yosemite National Park (161,280 acres), the Gen- 
eral Grant National Park (2,560 acres), and the 
Sequoia National Park (161,280 acres), all in Cali- 
fornia, and the Mount Rainier National Park (207,- 
360 acres), in Washington. 

The forest reservations, from the latest reports 
the writer has been able to obtain, are located as fol- 
lows (see pages 230 and 231), and contain the areas 
indicated in the right-hand column, although the 
lands actually reserved are only the vacant public 
lands therein. 

The President may proclaim a reservation, but it 
requires an act of Congress to establish a National 
park. Several of the reservations will become Na- 
tional parks in time no doubt. 



230 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



State or 
Territory. 



Name of reservation. 



Alaska 



Arizona 



Date of proclama- 
tion creating reser- 
vation. 



Afognak Forest and Fish 
Culture Reserve (reserved 
under sees. 24 and 14, act 

March 3, 1891) | Dec. 24, 1892 

Grand Canyon Forest Re- i 

serve j Feb. 20, 1893 

The San Francisco Moun- j 

tains Forest Reserves.. . Aug. 17, 1898 
The Black Mesa Forest 

Reserve Aug. 17, 1898 

The Prescott Forest Re- \ May 10, 1898 ) 
serve. "( Oct. 21, 1899 ] 

California . San Gabriel Timber Land 

Reserve Dec. 20, 1892 

Sierra Forest Reserve Feb. 14, 1893 

San Bernardino Forest 

Reserve Feb. 25, 1893 

The Trabuco Canyon For- j Feb. 25, 1893 
est Reserve. { Jan. 30, 1899 
The Stanislaus Forest Re- 
serve Feb. 22, 1897 

The San Jacinto Forest 

Reserve Feb. 22, 1897 

The Pine Mountain and j Mar. 2, 1898 
ZacaLakeForest Reserve { June 29, 1898 
The Lake Tahoe Forest I 

Reserve | Apr. 13, 1899 

The Santa Ynez Forest 

Reserve Oct. 2, 1899 

Colorado. . White River Plateau Tim- 
ber Land Reserve Oct. 16. 1891 

Pikes Peak Timber Land j Feb. 11, 1892 
Reserve. ( Mar. 18, 1892 

Plum Creek Timber Land 

Reserve June 23, 1892 

The South Platte Forest 

Reserve Dec. 9, 1892 

Battlement Mesa Forest 

Reserve Dec. 24, 1892 

Idaho and The Bitter Root Forest I 

Montana. Reserve ! Feb. 22, 1897 

Idaho and The Priest River Forest , 

Washington Reserve Feb. 22, 1897 



Present es- 
timated 
area in 
acres. 



403,640 

1,851,520 

975,360* 

1,658,880 
423,680 

555,520 
4,096,000 

737,280 
109,920 

691,200 

737,280 
1,644,594 

136,335 
145,000 

1,198,080 
184,320 

179,200 
683,520 
858,240 
4,147,200 
645,120 



* Even sections only. 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 231 



State or 
Territory. 



Name of reservation. 



Montana. . 



New Mex- 
ico. 



Oklahoma 
Oregon. . . . 



South Da- 
kota and 
Wyoming- 
Utah .. . 



Washing 
ton. 



Date of proclama- 
tion creating reser- 
vation. 



Wyoming . 



The Flathead Forest Re- 
serve . . 

The Lewis and Clarke 
Forest Reserve 

The Gallatin Forest Re- 
serves 

The Pecos River Forest 
Reserve. 

The Gila River Forest 
Reserve 

Wichita Forest Reserve. . 

Bull Run Timber Land 
Reserve 

The Cascade Range For- 
est Reserve. 

Ashland Forest Reserve . . 

The Black Hills Forest 
Reserve. 

The Uintah Forest Reserve 

The Fish Lake Forest 
Reserve 

The Payson Forest Re- 
serve 

The Washington Forest 
Reserve. 

The Olympic Forest Re- 
serve. 

The Mount Rainier Forest 
Reserve (area reduced 
March 2, 1899, by act of 
Congress creating the 
Mount Rainier National 
Park, 30 Stat,, 993) 

Yellowstone Park Timber 
Land Reserve. 

The Bighorn Forest Re- 
serve. 

The Teton Forest Reserve 

The Crow Creek Forest 
Reserve 



Feb. 22, 1897 

Feb. 22, 1897 

Feb. 10, 1899 
i Jan. 11, 1892 
'( May 27, 1898 

Mar. 2, 1899 
July 4, 1901 

June 17. 1892 
j Sept. 28, 1893 ) 
( July 1, 1901 \ 
Sept. 28, 1893 
Feb. 22. 1897 
Sept. 19, 1898 

Feb. 22, 1897 
Feb. 10, 1899 

Aug. 3,1901 
( Feb. 22, 1897 ) 
] April 3, 1901 \ 
{ Feb. 22. 1897 
- Apr. 7, 1900 - 

Julv 15, 1901 



Feb. 22, 1897 

i Mar. 30, 1891 

I Sept. 10, 1891 

' Feb. 22, 1897 

June 29, 1900 

Feb. 22, 1897 

Oct. 10, 1900 



Present es- 
timated 
area in 
acres. 



1,382,'400 

2,926,080 

40,320* 

431,040 

2,327,040 
57,120 

142,080 

4,588,800 

18,560 

1,211,680 

875,520 

67,840 

86,400 

3,426,400 

1,466,880 



2,027,520 
1,239,040 

1,147,840 
829,440 

56,320 



* Even sections only. 



232 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

The Yosemite National Park and other parks 
and reservations in California cover an area of al- 
most 10 per cent of the State. These reservations 
are of great importance because of their magnificent 
scenery, and because of the value of the water sup- 
ply in connection with extensive systems of irri- 
gation. Stretching in an almost continuous line along 
the Sierra Nevada Range to the Mojave Desert is an 
extensive reservation which protects the headwaters 
of the streams which flow into the San Joaquin Val- 
ley, the granary of California. The most northern 
reservation in California is Lake Tahoe. It is rough 
and mountainous, with practically no roads and few 
trails. It is unfit for agriculture, and includes moun- 
tains which are never free from snow. Extending 
to the southward for a long distance, including some 
of the finest scenery of the world, is a vast tract of 
reserved land, including the Stanislaus Reservation, 
the Yosemite National Park, the Sierra Reservation, 
the General Grant National Park, and Sequoia Na- 
tional Park. 

The Yosemite National Park includes the famous 
Yosemite Valley. A little to the southward, in the 
Sierra Reservation, is the Mariposa Park of Big 
Trees. The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Park 
are owned and managed by the State of California. 
They are under the control of the Governor and a 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 233 

Board of State Commissioners, who are represented 
on the spot by the Guardian of the Valley. Although 
the Yosemite Region is the best known of the Sierras, 
the Great Sierra Reservation abounds throughout in 
the grandest kind of scenery. It averages in eleva- 
tion from 8,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level, with 
many high peaks. 

The following in reference to the Yosemite Val- 
ley is copied from Whitney's guide-book: 

" The principal features of the Yosemite and 
those by which it is distinguished from all other 
known valleys are, first, the near approach to ver- 
tically of its walls; second, their great height, not 
only absolutely but as compared with the width of 
the valley itself; and, finally, the very small amount 
of talus or debris at the base of these gigantic cliffs. 
These are the great characteristics of the Yosemite 
throughout its whole length, but besides these there 
are many other striking peculiarities and features 
both of sublimity and beauty which can hardly be 
surpassed, if equaled, by those of any mountain val- 
ley in the world." 

Near to the Yosemite Valley is the famous Mari- 
posa Grove of Big Trees. This is only one of several 
groves and the only one which is surely protected. 
It is so called because it is situated in Mariposa 
County, the home of the Mariposa or " butterfly " 



234 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



Indians. The Big Tree, which is known to botanists 
as Sequoia washingtoniana, was named for Sequoia, 
an Indian chief, who, it is said, was the first of In- 
dians to invent an alphabet. 

In an exceedingly interesting and valuable pub- 
lication on the Big Trees of California recently is- 




The Big Trees of California. 



sued by the Bureau of Forestry, there is the follow- 
ing summary: 

I. The dimensions of the Big Trees are unequaled. 

II. The age of the Big Tree makes it the oldest 
living thing. 



FEDERAL AXD STATE RESERVATIONS 235 

III. The majestic beauty of the Big Tree is 
unique and world-renowned. 

IV. It now exists only in ten isolated groves on 
the west slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and 
nowhere else in the world. 

V. The Mariposa Grove is to-day the only one of 
consequence which is completely protected. 

VI. Most of the scattered groves of Big Trees 
are privately owned, and therefore in danger of de- 
struction. 

VII. Lumbering is rapidly sweeping them off; 
forty mills and logging companies are now at work 
wholly or in part upon Big Tree timber. 

VIII. The southern groves show some reproduc- 
tion, through which there is hope of perpetuating 
these groves. In the northern groves the species 
hardly holds its own. 

IX. The Big Tree and the smaller coast redwood 
represent a surviving prehistoric genus of trees (the 
Sequoias), once widely distributed over the globe. 

Farther to the south and nearer to the ocean, on 
the Coast Range, is a group of reservations destined 
to protect the headwaters of streams which flow down 
into the famous region of Santa Barbara, Los An- 
geles, and San Bernardino. These are famous winter 
resorts, with a delightful climate, and with charms 
quite equal to the Riviera of southern Europe, but 



236 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

dependent npon irrigation for the luxuriance of their 
vegetation. Nothing is of more vital importance to 
this district than water, which comes from the slopes 
of neighboring hills and mountains. It is, as is often 
said, " water not land that measures production." 

In the Southwestern United States, in Arizona 
and New Mexico, there is a group of reservations of 
recent formation, the most interesting of which in- 
cludes the Grand Canyon of the Colorado Kiver. 
This will become in time, no doubt, a National park. 

The Canyon which has been formed by the erosive 
action of the Colorado River is one of the most stu- 
pendous natural wonders of the world. It is 250 
miles long and from 3,000 to 5,000 feet deep. Its 
walls have been terraced and carved by the action of 
water into pinnacles and towers of many shapes, the 
beauty of which is enhanced by a great variety of 
brilliant colors due to the different stratifications 
through which the river has cut its way. In reaching 
this district from almost any direction one passes 
through vast deserts or sandy plateaus interspersed 
with salt lakes and alkali tracts with little vegetation. 
Arizona is the land of deserts, with a hot climate, 
with beautiful and peculiar scenery, with petrified for- 
ests, with rich mines and with curious Indian tribes 
and cliff dwellings, but with little of the most im- 
portant of all substances, wood and water. 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 237 

The San Francisco Mountain, in the San Fran- 
cisco Mountains Reservation, is a fine extinct vol- 
cano, surrounded by a district of cinder cones and 
lava beds. These mountains reach a height of nearly 
thirteen thousand feet, and are covered with one of 
the finest forests of the Southwest. 

Extending southeastward in a long irregular shape 
to the New Mexican line is the Black Mesa Reserva- 
tion. There it borders the Gila Reservation in New 
Mexico. In these reservations the headwaters of the 
Gila River are located. This river empties into the 
Colorado River at Yuma. Although it " runs dry " 
occasionally, it is, next to the Colorado, the most 
important stream in Arizona. This reservation is 
more or less forested. The principal cultivated re- 
gions are irrigated lands along the Little Colorado, 
and along the Gila River and its principal branch, the 
Salt River. 

There is another reservation in New Mexico not 
far from the city of Santa Fe. It is called the Pecos 
River Reservation. The irrigation in practise along 
this river is most notable because of its magnitude. 
This reservation is also at the headwaters of several 
branches of the Rio Grande, along which for some 
distance there is irrigated land. It is a feeder also to 
the Canadian River, which empties its waters into 
the Mississippi via the Arkansas. The Canadian 



238 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

River derives its name from the Spanish " Canada " 
— a valley. It cuts deep gorges through the plateau 
called the " Staked Plains/' and because of the red 
clay through which it passes its water is as red as 
blood. These plains are 5,000 feet above sea level, 
and cover an area of 50,000 square miles. The name 
is due, it is said, to stakes used by the Spaniards to 
mark their way. They are covered with grass and 
bushes, furnishing pasture to many herds of cattle, 
although water is scarce. 

The small Prescott Reservation in Arizona, near 
the city of Prescott, was enlarged by the President 
October 21, 1899, at the request of the citizens of 
Yavapai County, Arizona, with the hope of saving 
the timber for the use of the immediate community. 
The timber thereon was being rapidly consumed by 
the large mines in that district. One mine alone has 
an output of $50,000 of bullion a day. An immense 
amount of timber is used for mine props in our 
western country. Other reservations and National 
parks are in process of formation in Arizona, espe- 
cially in the neighborhood of Tucson, the largest city 
in the territory. In this town an Indian school and 
the Territorial University are located. 

In Utah there are three reservations, the Uintah, 
Payson, and Fish Lake. The Uintah Reservation em- 
braces the land on both sides of the Uintah Mountains, 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 239 

with the exception of the part occupied on the south- 
ern side by the Uintah Indian Reservation. Some of 
the water from these mountains is used for irrigation, 
some of it flows into the Green River, a tributary of 
the Colorado, and some of it into the Great Salt Lake 
Valley. The first irrigation works in this country 
were constructed long ago by the aborigines of the 
Southwest. Their example was followed by the Span- 
iards, but the first Anglo-Saxon irrigation was prac- 
tised by the Mormons. 

For the beginnings of Anglo-Saxon irrigation in 
this country, we must go to the Salt Lake Valley of 
Utah, where, in July, 1849, the Mormon pioneers 
turned the clear waters of City Creek upon the sun- 
baked and alkaline soil in order that they might plant 
the very last of their stock of potatoes in the hope of 
bringing forth a crop to save the little company from 
starvation. 

Wood is scarce in this district. The forests of 
the LTintah Mountains have been extensively cut, and 
conservative treatment is necessary in order to pro- 
tect the stream sources and furnish wood for future 
demands. 

In Colorado there are five reservations, although 
three are contiguous. The South Platte, Plum Creek, 
and Pike's Peak Reservations together form an ir- 
regularly shaped reservation between the cities of 



240 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

Leadville and Colorado Springs. The other two res- 
ervations are farther westward. They are White 
River and Battlement Mesa. As a glance at a map of 
Colorado will show, they are in one of the raggedest 
parts of the Eocky Mountains, and give birth to 
streams which flow into the tributaries of the Missis- 
sippi and the Colorado River. The vast central por- 
tion of Colorado consists of land which is unfit for 
agriculture but of great value because of its mineral 
deposits, its forests, and the water which comes from 
its snow-covered peaks. The Pike's Peak Reservation 
includes the high mountain of that name. It is one 
of the best known summits of the Rocky Mountains. 
It is 14,108 feet high, and is ascended both by a 
wagon-road and railroad. Small lakes in this neigh- 
borhood supply the city of Colorado Springs with 
water. 

Northward in Wyoming and South Dakota there 
are four reservations, two of which are contiguous to 
the Yellowstone National Park. These are the Teton 
and Yellowstone Reservations which partake of the 
nature of the Yellowstone Park, of which they are 
practically extensions. The Yellowstone Park con- 
sists of a broad volcanic plateau 8,000 feet above sea 
level and surrounded on all sides by high mountains. 
The whole district is a scene of recent volcanic ac- 
tivity in the form of geysers, boiling springs, terrace 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 241 

and crater formations, canons, petrified trees, and 
sulfur springs. Its geysers are the finest in the 
world. It has beautiful lakes and waterfalls. A great 
portion is covered with forests, in which wild animals 
of many kinds are protected. The bison roams about 
the park without molestation, since shooting is not 
permitted. 

Farther to the east, on the line between Wyoming 
and Montana, the Bighorn Reservation is located in a 
range of mountains of that name; and still farther 
east (the new Wichita Reserve in Oklahoma is now 
farthest east), in South Dakota, bordering on the line 
between that State and Wyoming, is the Black Hills 
Reservation. These mountains are surrounded on all 
sides by prairies. The conservation of the timber is, 
therefore, a matter of great importance. One of the 
most interesting natural wonders of this district is 
the Wind Cave. The cave is of great extent, in fact, 
contains miles of galleries and chambers, and a full 
complement of stalactitic, stalagmitic, and other for- 
mations of notable beauty. Much wood is used in 
the extensive mines of this district. 

Xorth of the Yellowstone Park, in Montana, there 
is a little reservation on the northern end of the Gal- 
latin Range. West of it flows the Gallatin River 
through the fertile Gallatin Valley. It is called the 

Gallatin Reservation. 
17 



242 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

Westward in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and 
California there is an area of perhaps 250,000 square 
miles called the " Columbian Lava." Through this the 
Snake Kiver has cut a deep canon, which is surpassed 
only by that of the Colorado River. This soil is very 
valuable for the production of wheat. The Yellow- 
stone River, which flows from Yellowstone Lake in 
Yellowstone Park, empties into the Missouri and 
thence into the Mississippi. On the other side of the 
Great Divide the Snake River begins and flows 
through lava plains and plateaus of great extent. 
Some distance south of the town of Shoshone are the 
Shoshone Falls of the Snake River, where a National 
park has been proposed. These falls are 950 feet in 
breadth, and fall from a height of 210 feet. 

In the far Northwest there are extensive reserva- 
tions. There are two in western Montana, two in 
northern Idaho, three in Washington, and one large 
and two small reservations in Oregon. Throughout, 
these reservations are covered with fine timber, and 
the present time is none too early to institute a thor- 
ough system of protection. The four reserves located 
in western Montana and northern Idaho are the 
Priest River, Flathead, Lewis and Clarke, and Bit- 
ter Root Reservations. These are large in area, ex- 
tremely rough and mountainous in nature, containing 
beautiful scenery and the sources of many streams 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 243 

which flow eastward into the Missouri and westward 
into the Columbia. They are vast mountain wilder- 
nesses. Extending north and south through Oregon 
and Washington there is a great plateau with many 
snow peaks. Although an extension of the Sierra 
Nevada Range of California, it is called in Oregon 
and Washington the Cascade Mountains. On the 
west side the climate is mild and extremely moist, 
and the vegetation, which is mainly coniferous, with 
the Douglas-fir predominating, is extremely luxu- 
riant. On the east side it is dry and more park-like 
in nature. It is used also extensively for pasturage. 
In Oregon the Cascade Reservation extends from 
the Columbia River southward almost to the southern 
boundary of the State. In these mountains numerous 
rivers flowing in both directions are fed by the melt- 
ing snows. The Cascade Reservation includes a part 
of Mount Hood (11,225 feet), with its glaciers and 
cascades. 

Not yet easily accessible is Crater Lake, on the 
summit of the Cascades. It is a huge abyss with 
walls from 1,000 to 2,000 feet in height, in which 
there is a lake of clear water with no apparent inlet 
or outlet. It is fresh and sweet, of a beautiful blue 
color, contains no fish, and is 2,000 feet deep, the 
deepest body of fresh water on the continent. 

On crossing the Columbia, we approach the first 



244 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

reservation in the State of Washington. It is the 
Mount Kainier Reservation, named for the famous 
mountain which it includes. A large area, including 
the mountain, is now a National park. Mount Rain- 
ier (14,520 feet), like most of the peaks of this great 
range, is an extinct volcano, with a crater at its sum- 
mit. This mountain still emits heat and sulfurous 
fumes. On its sides are glaciers and cascades. Mr. 
Bailey Willis, in an article in the Forester, on the 
Mount Rainier National Park, is authority for the 
following : 

" The first suggestion for the establishment of a 
Rainier National park came from two widely trav- 
eled foreigners. In 1883 they visited Mount Rainier, 
the one, Prof. Karl Zittel, of Munich, a geologist 
familiar with all the aspects of Europe; and the 
other, the Hon. James Bryce, a member of the Eng- 
lish Alpine Club, and a traveler whose mountaineer- 
ing conquests included Ararat. In a joint letter 
these gentlemen wrote: 

" ' The scenery of Mount Rainier is of rare and 
varied beauty. The peak itself is as noble a moun- 
tain as we have ever seen, in its lines and structure. 
The glaciers which descend from its snow-fields pre- 
sent all the characteristic features of those in the 
Alps, and though less extensive than the ice streams 
of the Mont Blanc or Monte Rosa groups, are, in 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 245 

their crevasses and serracs, equally striking, and 
equally worthy of close study. We have seen noth- 
ing more beautiful in Switzerland or Tyrol, in Nor- 
way or in the Pyrenees, than the Carbon River gla- 
cier and the great Puyallup glaciers. Indeed, the 
ice in the latter is unusually pure, and the crevasses 
unusually fine. The combination of ice scenery with 
woodland scenery of the grandest type is to be found 
nowhere in the Old World, unless it be in the Hima- 
layas, and, so far as we know, nowhere else on the 
American continent. . . . 

" ' We may, perhaps, be permitted to express a 
hope that the suggestion will at no distant date be 
made to Congress that Mount Rainier should, like 
the Yosemite Valley and the geyser region of the 
Upper Yellowstone, be reserved by the Federal Gov- 
ernment and treated as a National park.' ' 

On the peninsula between Puget Sound and the 
Pacific, the Olympic Reservation is located. It em- 
braces a large portion of the Olympic Mountains. 

Far to the Northwest is the Washington Reserve, 
which borders on the Canadian frontier and includes 
Mount Baker (10,800 feet). It is throughout a coun- 
try of such unrivaled natural beauties that spoliation 
of any kind whatever should be prevented, irrespect- 
ive of cost. 

The main point in connection with these reser- 



246 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

vations and the one which needs emphasis at present, 
is the vastness of the interests which they subserve in 
the West, and the dependence of the development of 
irrigable arid lands upon their extension and proper 
administration. The great mining interests of the 
West are dependent upon a timber supply. In addi- 
tion, there are important grazing interests which must 
be checked and regulated. At present the responsi- 
bility of the administration is too diffuse, and there is 
urgent need of consolidation and the appointment of 
trained officers such as Prof. Filibert Roth, the effi- 
cient chief of the new Division of Forestry of the 
General Land-Office. 

It must not be assumed that these reservations 
constitute all the land owned by the Government in 
Western America. These are only portions of the 
public domain which have been withdrawn from fu- 
ture settlement. Neither are these absolute reser- 
vations, inasmuch as private parties still have many 
rights and claims; in fact, in two reservations, only 
every other section is reserved. The people of the 
United States as a whole still own a vast area in our 
West. Much of it is desert or so mountainous that 
agriculture is impossible. Much of it is used for pas- 
turage. The percentage of vacant land, according 
to the United States Geological Survey, is approx- 
imately as follows: 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 24' 



Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. 

Arizona 76.08 South Dakota. 32.79 North Dakota. 47.14 

Colorado 64.58 Washington.. 48.98 

Kansas 1.40 California 57.83 

Nebraska 22.36 | Idaho 89.10 

New Mexico.. 69.66 Montana 78.49 

Oklahoma 39.18 i Nevada 95.30 



Oregon 59.10 

Utah 81.89 

Wyoming .... 85 . 72 



The Government owns, of course, immense quan- 
tities of land in Alaska. The island of Afognak has 
been set aside as a Forest and Fish Culture Keser- 
vation. The circumjacent rocks and waters are in- 
cluded. It is north of Kadiak Island, where there 
are Eskimo villages. It is separated from the main- 
land of Alaska by Shelikof Strait. This spot is 
of great interest because it is practically the north- 
ern limit of the coast forest of Alaska. Nothing 
whatever has been done with this reservation. It 
was set aside primarily for the purpose of estab- 
lishing fish-cultural stations. The Fish Commission 
has never assumed control, and the taking of salmon 
continues regularly in violation of the President's 
order. 

The Government has fallen heir to immense 
unexplored forest land in the Philippine Islands. 
The forestry service which was instituted by the 
Spanish is being continued under the efficient di- 
rection of Captain George Ahern. This region is 
rich in valuable woods, and there is every reason 
for hoping that the exploitation of the forest will 



248 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

be carefully conducted. In this we may learn much 
from the English in India and the Hollanders in 
Java. 

It is to be hoped also that some land may be set 
aside or purchased in Porto Rico for experimenta- 
tion, and to furnish a place in the tropics, easily ac- 
cessible, where northern students may go to study 
tropical vegetation. The only forest of any extent 
in Porto Pico which has been spared is on the moun- 
tain of El Yunque. It is only 3,200 feet above sea 
level, but is practically inaccessible. It is constantly 
bathed in moisture, and is a typical tropical mountain 
tangle. 

There are several reasons for believing that the 
Isle of Pines belongs to the United States. If so, 
here would be an excellent place for a reservation, 
especially on the southern coast, before the rich vir- 
gin hardwoods are cut. 

There are also large areas in the Hawaiian Islands 
which are worthy of preservation, and there is great 
need of forest planting in the Danish Islands which 
have just been purchased. 

The most extensive State reservation is in New 
York, in the Adirondaeks. Land has been exten- 
sively purchased by a board which was appointed by 
the Governor for this purpose. This region is a 
famous health and pleasure resort, with many beau- 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 249 

tiful lakes and forest-clad mountains. Thirty thou- 
sand acres of this land have been placed in the hands 
of the New York State College of Forestry of Cor- 
nell University for a period of thirty years for the 
purpose of demonstrating the possibilities of forestry 
in that district. The headquarters is located at Ax- 
ton, the seat of an old lumbering establishment, out 
of which an active forestry center is being gradually 
evolved. 

There are two State forestry experiment sta- 
tions in California, under the control of the Univer- 
sity of California. One is at Chico and the other is 
at Santa Monica. 

The State of Pennsylvania has begun the pur- 
chase of denuded forest lands which are the nuclei 
of future State reservations. 

Massachusetts has spent considerable money un- 
der the direction of the Land and Harbor Commis- 
sioners in fixing shifting sands belonging to the State 
on Cape Cod. 

Many cities throughout the United States have 
extensive forest parks for purposes of pleasure, and 
wooded areas for the collection of pure water. 

The proposed McKinley National Park in west- 
ern North Carolina, western Tennessee, and adjacent 
States, is much talked of, and there is every reason 
for hoping that it may become a reality in the near 



250 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

future. The reasons advanced for the establishment 
of this park are in brief as follows : 

First, the East and South have no National forest 
reserve. 

Second, the West and North have many. 

Third, western North Carolina presents every 
requisite for a perfect timber preserve and National 
park as regards climate, scenery, and timber. 

Fourth, lumbermen are rapidly devastating the 
whole section. 

Fifth, the greatest region in the United States for 
a variety of hardwood timber is here found. 

Sixth, the region under contemplation forms the 
headwaters of all the streams of the Southeastern 
States. 

Seventh, it is necessary to preserve this timber in 
the mountains in order to retain the water supply of 
these States. 

Eighth, lumbering and barking will in the next 
few years make the establishment of a National for- 
est preserve in this part of the country impossible. 

Ninth, the region is within easy access of all the 
Eastern and Southern States. 

Tenth, such a forest reserve would soon become 
stocked with game and fish; and, 

Finally, it is the duty of the people of this gen- 
eration to preserve such a section of the Southern 



FEDERAL AND STATE RESERVATIONS 251 

Appalachian Mountains, and to hand down to poster- 
ity a part of the country in its primeval condition. 

A Xational park has been much talked of in Min- 
nesota at the headwaters of the Mississippi River. 
These National and State parks and reservations are 
all in the proper line tending toward the proper end, 
which is complete reservation and care of all the 
forest land of the public domain which is unfit 
for profitable agriculture. In the East each State 
should own and properly care for such territory, as 
the Adirondack^ Catskills, White Mountains, etc., 
which is of more value for the health, pleasure, and 
protection to water which it furnishes than for tim- 
ber, although all interests may be simultaneously 
subserved under judicious management. 



CHAPTEE XI 

A LIST OF FIFTY IMPORTANT AMERICAN FOREST TREES, 
TWENTY-FIVE CONIFERS AND TWENTY-FIVE HARD- 
WOODS 

Any of the species mentioned below are worthy 
of encouragement in the regions in which they are 
native. 

The following descriptions are selected from 
" Trees of the United States Important in Forestry " 
(H. E. Document !N"o. 181, page 51): 

Conifers 
1. White Pine (Pinus strobus Linn.). Height, 
120 feet+; diameter, 3 feet +. Northern; wide 
range, forming forests to Southern mountains. Best 
development in region of the Great Lakes. Best on 
light, sandy, fresh, deep soil, but successful on a 
large range of soils from dry to moist. Eapid grower; 
endures some shade; hardy. The most important 
conifer of the United States ; good quality, however, 
only in centenarians. Is best mixed with deciduous 
trees; seed of rather slow but high percentage of ger- 
mination ; plant two-year-old seedlings, or sow. 
252 



CONIFERS 



253 



2. Ked Pine (Norway Pine) (Pinus resinosa 
Ait.). Height, 100 feet+; diameter, 1\ feet +. 
Northern; associated mostly with white pine. Great- 




White Pixe (Pinus strobus). 

est development from Michigan to Minnesota. 
Adapted to many soils, but best quality of timber 
produced in well-drained sands. Extremely hardy; 
vigorous and rapid grower. Should be favored in 
Northern and Northeastern planting with white pine 
and deciduous trees. So far, seed very expensive and 
difficult to obtain. 

3. Long-leaf Pine (Southern Pine; Yellow 
Pine; Georgia Pine; Hard Pine) (Pinus palustris 



254 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

Miller). Height, 100 feet +; diameter, 2£ feet +. 
South Atlantic and Gulf States. Well-drained, loose, 
deep, sandy loam or gravel. The slow growth of first 
five years makes its silvicultural value problematic; 
development dependent on atmospheric moisture; 
least shade-enduring of pines. Rare but plentiful 
seeder; germinates freely; can therefore be prop- 
agated by sowing seed in permanent place. Most 
valuable pine of the South, but for best quality of 
timber requires long period of growth. 

4. Shout-leaf Pine (Bull-Pine; Yellow Pine; 
Spruce-Pine) (Pinus echinata Miller). Height, 90 
feet+; diameter, 2 feet +. Middle Atlantic and 
Southern States. Best development in western Lou- 
isiana, southern Arkansas, and eastern Texas. Com- 
mon on light, sandy soil. Will succeed on the poorest 
soil. Easily reproduced; good seeder; light-needing. 

5. Cuban Pine (Slash-Pine; Swamp-Pine; Bas- 
tard-Pine) (Pinus heterophylla Ell. Sudw.). Height, 
90 feet +; diameter, 2 feet +. Southern and south- 
eastern coast; local in swamps and near watercourses. 
Best development in eastern Florida. Light, sandy 
soil; somewhat indifferent to drainage. Rapid grow- 
er; easily reproduced; matures seed yearly; compet- 
ing with the long-leaf pine on wet sags; light needing. 

6. Old-Field Pine (Loblolly Pine) (Pinus taeda 
Linn.). Height, 100 feet +; diameter, 2 J feet +. 



CONIFERS 255 

Southeastern. Greatest development in Virginia and 
^orth Carolina. Low, moist, or dry, sandy soils and 
abandoned fields. Adapted to a wide range of sites. 
Rapid grower; light-needing; seeds persistently and 
plentifully. 

7. "Western Yellow Pine (Yellow Pine; Heavy 
Wooded Pine; Bull-Pine) (Pinus ponderosa Doug- 
las). Height, 200 feet+; diameter, 12 feet +. 
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, up to high elevation 
forming forests. Best developed on western slope of 
Sierras of northern and central California. Dry, 
rocky ridges and prairies, sometimes in swamps; 
but best in deep, loamy sand. Vigorous, rapid 
grower; very hardy, except when quite young. 
Well adapted to dry, windy, exposed places; suc- 
ceeds on Western prairies. The pine for reforest- 
ing southern exposures of the Western mountain 
regions. 

8. Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana Dough). 
Height, 150 feet; diameter, 4 feet +. Western Pa- 
cific slope. Best development in Sierras of central 
and northern California above 4,000 feet; lower in 
Oregon. Very rapid grower. Quite hardy in the 
East. Best pine for reforestation in its native 
habitat. 

9. Black Spruce (Picea mariana Mill. ; B. S. P.). 
Including the variety called Red Spruce. Height, 80 



256 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

feet ; diameter, 1-J feet +. Mainly northeastern, 
forming forests. Best development north of latitude 




Norway Spruce (Picea excelsa). 

50°. Light, dry, stony soils; much smaller in cold, 
wet swamps. Rapid grower. 

10. White Spruce (Picea canadensis Mill.; B. 
S. P.). Height, 100 feet; diameter, U feet +". 
Mainly northeastern and extending into Rocky Moun- 
tains; forming forests. Like black spruce, but prob- 
ably better adapted to Western planting, being 
hardier. 



CONIFERS 257 

11. Engelmann Spruce (White Spruce) (Picea 
engelmanni Engelm.). Height, 100 feet+; diame- 
ter, 3 feet +. Western mountain regions and north- 
ward; high elevation. Best development in central 
Rocky Mountain region between 9,000 and 10,000 
feet. Dry, gravelly slopes, 5,000 to 11,500 feet. A 
tree for reforestation of mountain slopes along water- 
courses. 

12. Sitka Spruce (Tide-Land Spruce) (Picea sit- 
chensis Carriere). Height, 150 feet + ; diameter, 6 
feet +. Alaska and Northwestern coast; low eleva- 
tions. Moist soil and climate, at least a moist sub- 
soil, shady situations. Rapid grower. Probably 
hardy in Northeastern and Middle States, in shaded 
positions. 

13. Balsam Fir (Balm-of-Gilead Fir) (Abies 
balsamea Miller). Height, 70 feet +"; diameter, 1| 
feet +. Northeastern States and northward. Cold, 
damp woods and swamps. Rapid grower. Valuable 
only as undergrowth or as nurse, and in imperfectly 
drained situations. 

14. Douglas Spruce (Red Fir; Yellow Fir; Ore- 
gon Pine) (Pseudotsuga taxifoUa Poir.; Britt.). 
Height, 300 feet "+; diameter, 10 feet +. Rocky 
Mountain region to Pacific; wide range; forming for- 
ests. Best development in western Oregon and 

Washington. Accommodates itself to many soils, 
18 



258 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

but prefers a deep and moist, cool and well-drained 
one; succeeds well on a dry, slaty soil and on sand 
dunes and exposed situations. Surpasses almost all 
of the conifers in the rapidity of its growth, and en- 




Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia). 

dures much drought; shade-enduring. One of the 
largest and most important forest trees of the West. 
For eastern planting seed should be procured from 
Colorado or Montana. Repairs damage very readily. 
15. Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis Linn.; Carr.). 
Height, 80 feet+; diameter, 3 feet +. Northern 
and Eastern States. Best development probably in 



CONIFERS 259 

Canada. Light, alluvial loam, well-drained, but cool 
and moist situations. Grows slowly when young, but 
tolerably rapidly after four or rive years; endures 
shade. Excellent nurse-tree for white pine, with 
which it is usually associated. 

16. Western Hemlock {Tsuga mertensiana 
Bong.; Carr.). Height, 180 feet +; diameter, 6 
feet +. Northwestern States, between 1,000 and 
4,000 feet. Best t development in western Oregon 
and Washington. A substitute for the above species 
on the Pacific coast. An exceedingly rapid grower, 
even on poor soils. Very shade-enduring, forming 
large part of the undergrowth in its habitat. 

17. Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichwn Rich.). 
Height, 150 feet; diameter, 8 feet. South Atlantic 
and Gulf States, forming forests in swamps and pine- 
barren ponds. Indifferent to imperfect drainage and 
flooding, but capable of rapid growth on well-drained, 
moist, sandy soils, and hardy as far north as latitude 
39° and 40°, and even on Western prairies. Posi- 
tively light-needing. To be recommended for exten- 
sive planting in favorable situations; where even 
superior lumber may be expected. 

18. Tamarack (Black Larch; Hackmatack) (La- 
fix laricina Du Hoi; Koch). Height, 80 feet; diame- 
ter, 1 foot +. Northeastern. Best development in 
Canada on moist uplands; in United States, in cold, 



260 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

wet swamps ; but probably of more value when grown 
on deep, moist, well-drained soils, in cool situations. 
Kapid and persistent grower; light-needing. De- 
serves attention in Northern forestry, but only in 
mixed growths. 

19. Western Larch (Tamarack) (Larix occiden- 
talis Nutt.). Height, 100 feet +; diameter, 4 feet +. 
Northwestern; elevations between 2,500 and 5,000 
feet. Best development in Valley of Flathead River, 
Montana. An important tree as a Western repre- 
sentative of the foregoing species, occupying dry 
slopes in dry climate. 

20. Red Juniper (Savin) (Juniperus virginiana 
Linn.). Height, 50 feet+; diameter, L| feet +. 
Eastern United States. Best development in valley 
of Red River, Texas. Prefers a mild climate; deep 
swamps, borders of streams, ridges, hills; will thrive 
on a rather dry, loose soil. Perhaps the most impor- 
tant conifer for Southwestern prairie-planting, en- 
during drought and partial shade. Tolerably rapid 
grower. 

21. White Cedar (Chamoecyparis thyoides 
Linn.; B. S. P.). Height, 70 feet +; diameter, 1| 
feet -p. Atlantic and Gulf States to central Missis- 
sippi. Most abundant and best developed in Virginia 
and North Carolina. Always in low, marshy, or wet 
ground, where it thrives well and grows rapidly. 



CONIFERS 261 

Endures moist, upland soils, but with slow growth. 
Very shade-enduring; easy to propagate from seed. 

22. Yellow Cedar (Chamoecyparis nootkatensis 
Lamb.; Spach). Height, 150 feet+; diameter, 5 
feet +. Northwest coast region, from Mount Jef- 
ferson northward. Most common on the seacoast 
north of United States boundary. Like arbor vitse. 

23. Arbor Vit.e (White Cedar) (Thuja occi- 
dentalis Linn.). 'Height, 50 feet + ; diameter, L 1 
feet. Northeastern States and northward. Will 
grow well in any soil not too stiff, often forming 
dense, pure growths in wet, boggy swamps. Eapid 
grower ; easily propagated ; desirable for under- 
growth and to fill out places where other trees fail 
to come. 

24. Giant Arbor Vfle (Eed Cedar; Yellow 
Cedar) (Thuja plicata Don.). Height, 150 feet +; 
diameter, 9 feet +. Northwestern coast and from 
Humboldt, Cal., to British Columbia. Best develop- 
ment north of Seattle. Like the above species on 
Pacific coast. 

25. Eed wood (Sequoia sempervirens Endl.). 
Height, 300 feet +; diameter, 20 fee*t +. California 
coast from Oregon southward; forest-forming. Low, 
moist, well-drained situations and damp climate; not 
on dry hillsides. Vigorous and persistent grower; 
shade-enduring; sprouts from the stump. Highly im- 



262 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



portant for California forestry; perhaps also for that 
of Southern States. 

Haedwoods 

26. White Oak (Quercus alba Linn.). Height, 
100 feet +; diameter, 3 feet +. North Central, Cen- 




White Oak (Quercus alba). 

tral, and Eastern States. Best development on west- 
ern slopes of Allegheny Mountains and valley of Ohio 
River. Grows well on a great variety of soils, but 
best on deep, moderately moist, well-drained, loamy 
sand, and in warm situations. Slow but persistent 



HARDWOODS 263 

grower; light-needing. Most valuable of the Amer- 
ican oaks. 

27. Basket-Oak (Swamp Chestnut-Oak; Cow- 
Oak) (Quercus michauxii Eutt.). Height, 100 
feet+; diameter, 3 feet +. Southeastern. Best 
development on the rich bottom-lands of southeastern 
Arkansas and Louisiana. Moist, rich soil: will en- 
dure flooding. The most valuable of the white oaks 
for the Gulf States. 

28. Chinkapin - Oak (Quercus acuminata 
Michx.; Houba). Height, 80 feet +; diameter, 3 
feet +. Central and Middle Atlantic region. Largest 
growth in lower Ohio Valley. Best in deep, rich, 
moist, well-drained bottom-lands, but grows well and 
is not uncommon on dry, fertile, limestone soils; it 
also succeeds on clayey and sandy soils of uplands. 

29. Live Oak (Quercus virginiana Miller). 
Height, 80 feet+; diameter, 3 feet +. Southern 
States. Greatest development in Southern Atlantic 
States. Warm, loamy soil, retentive of moisture, 
and free from overflow. One of the most rapid 
growers of all the oaks; most shade-enduring; ever- 
green foliage. Especially desirable for Southern 
forestry. 

30. Tan-Bark Oak (Peach-Oak) (Quercus densi- 
flora Hook & Arnott). Height, 60 feet +; diameter, 
2 feet +. Pacific coast. Best development in red- 



264 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

wood belt on California coast. Well-drained, rich 
soils. Shade-enduring. Foliage evergreen. 

31. Chestnut-Oak (Rock Chestnut-Oak) (Quer- 
cus prinus Linn.). Height, 80 feet+; diameter, 
3 feet +. Northeastern. Best development in 
Southern Allegheny Mountains. For planting on 
rocky banks and hillsides; never in any but well- 
drained situations. 

32. Bur-Oak (Mossy-cup Oak; Over-cup Oak) 
(Quercus macrocarpa Michx.). Height, 100 feet +; 
diameter, 3^ feet +. Mainly Northeastern United 
States; extends farthest west and northwest of any 
of the Eastern oaks. Requires better soil than white 
oak; deep, rich loam; more shade-enduring. A West- 
ern substitute for white oak, and especially recom- 
mended for prairie planting. 

33. Swamp White Oak (Quercus platanoides 
Lam.; Sudw.). Height, 90 feet+; diameter, 2 
feet +. Northeastern United States. Best develop- 
ment in region south of the Great Lakes. In deep, 
moist, or inundated swamps and low banks of water- 
courses. Succeeds in all loose, rich, fairly moist up- 
land soils. 

34. Red Oak (Quercus rubra Linn.). Height, 
100 feet+; diameter, 3J feet +. East of Rocky 
Mountains. Most northerly of Atlantic oaks. Best 
development in Massachusetts. Thrives in all soils 



HARDWOODS 265 

except an imdrained one. The most rapid in growth 
of all the oaks. Sprouts vigorously from stump. 

35. Beech (Fagus atropunicea Marsh; Sudw.). 
Height, 100 feet+; diameter, 3 feet +. East of 
Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Best development 
probably on " bluff " formations of Lower Mississippi 
basin. Fresh, rich, but not necessarily a deep soil; 
limestone soils. For rocky, exposed situations. 
Rapid grower, enduring shade exceedingly well, and 
producing rich humus, which render it one of the most 
valuable aids in forestry. 

36. Chestnut (Castanea dentata Marsh; Borkh.). 
Height, 90 feet+; diameter, 14 feet +. Forth- 
eastern and Middle Atlantic States. Best develop- 
ment on western slopes of Allegheny Mountains. 
Well-drained gravelly soils; succeeds on rocky hill- 
sides with soil of sufficient looseness and depth; on 
northern and eastern exposures; will thrive on rather 
poor sand; slow and uncertain in stiff, clayey soil. 
Exceedingly rapid grower; moderately shade-endur- 
ing; sprouts most vigorously and persistently from 
the stump; large yield per acre. 

37. Black Walistjt (Juglans nigra Linn.). 
Height, 100 feet+; diameter, 4 feet +. Forth- 
eastern, Central, and Southeastern States. Best de- 
velopment on southern slopes of Allegheny Moun- 
tains and in bottom-lands of southwestern Arkansas 



266 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

and Indian Territory. Deep, loose, fresh to moist, 
warm and sandy loam ; will grow in a dry and compact 
soil, but not in a wet one. Hardy and rapid grower, 





' r> *s 



Walnut (Juglans nigra). 

especially in height; only centenarians produce first- 
class quality of wood, but useful timber may be pro- 
duced in forty to sixty years. . Sprouts freely from 
the stump. 

38. Shagbark Hickory (Shellbark Hickory) (Hi- 
coria ovata Mill.; Britt.). Height, 80 feet +; diam- 
eter, 2 feet +. Eastern United States; wide range. 



HARDWOODS 267 

Best development west of the Allegheny Mountains. 
Deep, fresh soil; a compact soil not objectionable; not 
on poor, dry, or wet soils. At first slow, but after- 
ward rapid grower; spronts well from the stnmp. 
Moderately shade-enduring. Somewhat liable to in- 
jury by frost. 

39. Pecan (Illinois Nut) (Hicoria pecan Marsh; 
Britt.). Height, 75 feet+; diameter, 2 feet +. 
Southwestern, but widely cultivated in Southern 
States. Best development in Arkansas and Indian 
Territory. Deep, rich bottom-land, but succeeds 
fairly on upland soils of moderate richness. Rapid 
grower; for Southwestern planting. More valuable 
perhaps for production of fruit than for timber pur- 
poses. 

40. Black Cheery (Rum-Cherry) (Prunus sero- 
tina Ehrhart). Height, 90 feet +; diameter, 2 
feet +. Eastern United States; wide range. Adapted 
to almost any soil and situation; best in deep, well- 
drained soil; will succeed also on dry soil. Very rapid 
grower, very soon reaching a useful size for cabinet 
wood. Endures considerable shade when young. 
The wide range of sites to which it is adapted, its 
rapid growth, and endurance of shade place it among 
the most valuable forest trees of the United States, 
especially for Western planting. Not infected by 
caterpillars in forest-plantations. 



268 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

41. Sweet-Gum (Liquidambar ; Red Gum; Star- 
leaved Gum; Bilsted) (Liquidambar styraciflua 
Linn.). Height, 100 feet +; diameter, 3 feet +. 
Southeastern States. Greatest development in basin 
of Mississippi River. Succeeds on a great variety 
of soils; a tree of the swamp as well as of dry soils; 
best on light, dry, sandy, and soils retentive of mois- 
ture. Rapid grower. Insect-proof, and generally 
healthy. 

42. Locust (Locust; Yellow Locust) (Robinia 
pseudacacia Linn.). Height, 80 feet +; diameter, 
1^ feet +• Southern Allegheny region. Allegheny 
Mountains; local; but by cultivation widely dis- 
tributed east of Rocky Mountains. Poor, loose sands 
give best quality of timber; not succeeding well in 
compact soils, but will thrive on a thin one, and grows 
quickest on rich, sandy loam. Very rapid grower 
while young; needs light very much; sprouts per- 
sistently and vigorously from the roots. To be only 
sparingly dispersed among shady companions, which 
will afford protection against the borers. Easily 
propagated from seed. For short rotations and cop- 
pice management. 

43. Tulip-Tree (Whitewood; Yellow Poplar) 
(Liriodendron tulipifera Linn.). Height, 120 
feet + ; diameter, 4 feet +. Eastern States. Great- 
est development in valley of lower Wabash River, 



HARDWOODS 269 

and on western slope of Allegheny Mountains in Ten- 
nessee, North Carolina, and the Virginias. Deep, 
light, loamy, sandy, or clayey soils, in cool, moist 
situations. Tolerably rapid and persistent grower. 
Needs light very much; hardy. Poor seeder, and low 
percentage of germination. Sprouts fairly from the 
stump. One of the largest and most valuable of the 
deciduous softwoods. 

44. Hakdy Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa "Warder). 
Height, 80 feet +; diameter, 3 feet +. South Cen- 
tral States; rare, but widely cultivated for ornament. 
Best development in valley of lower Wabash River. 
Adapted to a great variety of soils; best on low, rich 
bottom-lands. Very rapid grower; sprouts vigor- 
ously from the stump ; shade-enduring. Good seeder. 
Desirable tree for Western planting. Foliage sub- 
ject to ravages of insects. 

45. White Ash (Fraxinus americana Linn.). 
Height, 100 feet+; diameter, 3 feet +. Eastern; 
wide range. Best development in lower Ohio Basin. 
Depth, looseness, and moisture of soil of most impor- 
tance. Best in moist atmosphere of northern and 
eastern exposures. Will succeed in wet and compact 
soil if well drained, but maintains itself with slow 
growth in a light and dry one. Rapid grower; light- 
needing, thinning out rapidly, and therefore requiring 
shady, slower-growing companions. Sprouts vigor- 



270 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 

ously and persistently from the stump. Often a poor 
seeder; seed not easily kept. Liable to attacks of 
borer and to frost when young. 

46. Sugar-Maple (Hard Maple; Sugar-Tree) 
{Acer saccharum Marsh). Height, 100 feet+; di- 
ameter, 3 feet +. Eastern United States and north- 
ward. Best development in region of Great Lakes. 
Best on moderately deep, loose, well-drained, strong 
loam, and calcareous soil, in moist, cool position; will 
grow also on stiff clay if not too wet, and on stony 
hillsides if not too dry. Tolerably rapid and per- 
sistent grower; moderately shade-enduring; does 
not sprout well from the stump. Not well adapted 
to dry regions. 

47. White Elm (American Elm; Water Elm) 
(Ulmus americana Linn.). Height, 100 feet+; 
diameter, 3^ feet +. East of the Kocky Mountains. 
Probably attains its best development near its 
northern limits. Adapted to a great variety of soils, 
but best on a rich, loose, moist one; requires less 
moisture than the ashes; bears occasional flooding. 
Eapid and persistent grower; sprouts well; endures 
moderate shade. Important in forestry mainly as 
a nurse and for soil cover. Eecommended for West- 
ern planting. 

48. Yellow Birch (Gray Birch) (Befula lutea 
Michx. f.). Height, 80 feet +; diameter, 3 feet +. 



HARDWOODS 271 

Northeastern United States and northward. Best 
development north of the Great Lakes. Cool, moist 
atmosphere preferable. Capable of thriving on poor, 
but best on a moderately deep, loose, moist sand; 
hardy and very adaptive as to soils. Kapid and 
tolerably persistent grower; sprouting qualities great- 
ly dependent on site. Vigorously in moist soils. 
Light-needing. Easily propagated. 

49. Basswood (American Linden; Bee-Tree; 
Lime-Tree) (Tilia americana Linn.). Height, 100 
feet +; diameter, 3 feet +. East of the Mississippi 
and Missouri rivers; wide range. Greatest develop- 
ment in valley of lower Wabash River. Deep, mod- 
rately loose, and somewhat moist soil; can endure a 
wet soil, but will not thrive on a dry one. Rapid and 
persistent grower; sprouts vigorously from the 
stump; endures moderate shade. Not very hardy, 
but in cool situations a desirable adjunct in for- 
estry. 

50. Cottonwood (Carolina Poplar; Big Cotton- 
wood; Necklace Poplar) (Populus deltoides Marsh). 
Height, 100 feet +; diameter, 4 feet "+. East of the 
Rocky Mountains. Adapted to a great variety of 
soils, but best in a moist, strong, loamy one. Exceed- 
ingly rapid grower; sprouts vigorously from the 
stump; light-needing, thinning out rapidly; short- 
lived; readily propagated from cuttings. Has been 



272 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



recommended for planting on Western prairies, 
chiefly on account of its rapidity of growth, ease of 
procuring plant material, and of propagation. 




Shoot of Carolina Poplar. 
Showing vertical position of leaves. 



American trees most extensively cultivated in Eu- 
rope are: White pine, Douglas-fir, white spruce, lo- 
cust, red oak, tulip, and black walnut. 

European trees most extensively cultivated in 
America are: Scot's pine, Austrian pine, Norway 
spruce, European beech, English w T alnut, and Norway 
maple. 



HARDWOODS 273 

Some common Eastern trees which have been 
more or less planted, and which may in time prove of 
great value, are: Deodar, ailanthus, paulownia, ce- 
drela sinensis, camphor, casnarina, candle-nut, man- 
go, and several species of eucalyptus. 



19 



INDEX 



Abies balsamea, how propagated, 
105; in the United States, 257. 

Acer saccharum, value of, to the 
farmer, 23; effect of frost on, 
163; methods of tapping, 201- 
204; in the United States, 270. 

Acetic acid, how obtained, 208. 

Acids, secreted by roots, 51. 

Adirondacks, snow in the, 106; 
forest regeneration in the, 130; 
State reservation in the, 248. 

^Etna, Mount, chestnuts on, 44. 

Afognak Reservation, 247. 

Agassiz, quoted, 211. 

Age of trees, 43-44. 

Agricultural Gazette, New South 
Wales, quoted, 86. 

Agriculture, as related to for- 
estry, 12-14, 19-26. 

Ahern, Captain George, 247. 

Ailanthus, 73. 

Alabama bad lands, improve- 
ment of, 98. 

Alaska Commercial Company, 
31. 

Alaska, peat-beds in, 97; Gov- 
ernment land in, 247. 

Alcohol, wood, 208. 

Aleurites triloba, 220. 

Alkali, in soil, 84. 

Allspice. See Eugenia pimenta. 

Alps, wattlework in the, 57-58. 

Amazon Basin, woods of the, 
211. 

Amber, vegetable origin of, 206. 



American Seed Trade Associa- 
tion, 108. 

Anana sativa, in Florida, 123. 

Animals, as related to trees, 2, 
23, 74, 87-89, 104, 169-173. 

Apiculture. See Bees. 

Arboriculture, defined, 3. 

Arbor-vitae. See Thuja. 

Arizona, physical condition of, 
236; reservations in, 236-238. 

Ash. See Fraxinus. 

Ashes, of hardwoods, as ferti- 
lizer, 121-122, 183-184. 

Aspen. See Populus tremuloidcs. 

Astragalus mollissimus, 111 n. 

Australia, curious seeds in, 85; 
sheep in, 171. 

Autumn tints, how caused, 162. 

Avalanches, prevented by for- 
ests, 57. 

Avicennia nitida, tannin from, 
207. 

Axton, demonstration forest, 
New York State College of 
Forestry, 249. 

Baden, Black Forest of, 64. 
Bahama Islands, how formed, 

48. 
Bailey, Professor, quoted, 29. 
Bakers, use of fagots by, 19, 182- 

183. 
" Balata," 219. 
Bald-cypress. See Taxodium dis- 

tichum. 

275 



276 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



Ball-planting, 127. 

Balm-of-Gilead. See Abies bal- 
samea. 

Balsam. See Abies balsamea. 

Bamboo, size of, 80; use of, in 
growing Eucalyptus; trouble- 
some nature of, 177. 

Banda, nutmeg groves of, 216. 

Banyan. See Ficus bengalensis. 

Baphia, 221. 

Bark-beetles. See Beetles. 

Basket oak. See Quercus mi- 
chauxii. 

Basketry, 16, 20, 23.. 

Bassia latifolia, products of, 212. 

Basswood. See Tilia. 

Bavin, use of, for land protec- 
tion, 99; denned, 183. 

Beech. See Fagus. 

Bees, effect of, on seed produc- 
tion, 2, 32, 77. 

Beetles, bark, protection of logs 
from, 169. 

Bertholletia excelsa, 75-76, 214. 

Betula, distribution of, 74; seeds 
of, 101; as nurse tree, 106; 
lutea, 270-271. 

Biltmore, 27. 

Birch. See Betula. 

Birds, as seed disseminators, 75; 
as insect destroyers, 168. 

Black Forest of Baden, 64. 

Black Mesa Reservation, 237. 

Blueberry, in Maine, 152. 

Borer, 167-168. 

Brazil-nut. See Bertholletia ex- 
celsa. 

Brazil-wood. See Ccesalpinia. 

Brushwork, 98-99, 183. 

Bryce, 244. 

Bureau of Forestry, Washing- 
ton, D. C. See United States 
Bureau of Forestry. 

Burning over, when desirable, 
97, 139, 153; danger from, 152. 

Bush, defined, 5. 

Cactus, 83. 
Cwsalpinia, 221. 



Calabash, use of, 218. 

California, trees in, 17, 42, 44-45, 
73, 233-235 ; forest reservations 
in, 230-236; experiment sta- 
tions in, 249. 

Cambodia, gamboge - tree in, 
221. 

Camphor. See Cinnamomum cam- 
phora. 

Camwood. See Baphia. 

Canada, logging in, 191. 

Canadian River, 237-238. 

Cananga oclorata, 213. 
'Canarium commune, 216. 

Candle-nut. See Aleurites trilo- 
ba. 

Canopy, forest, 34-37. 

Caoutchouc. See Castilloa elas- 
tica; Hevea brazilensis. 

Capillarity, in soils, 55. 

Carbon dioxid, converted into 
starch, 36. 

Cascade Reservation, 243. 

Castanea, age of, 44; uses of, 95, 
140; flour made from, 210; den- 
tata, 265. 

Castilloa elastica, how grown, 21; 
seeds of, 103; where grown, 
219. 

Catalpa speciosa, 269. 

Cedar-apple, 173-174. 

Cedar (arbor-vitse). See Thuja. 

Cedar, Cuban. See Ccdrela odo- 
rata. 

Cedar, red. See Juniperus vir- 
giniana. 

Cedar, true. See Cedrus. 

Cedar, white or yellow. See 
Chamcccyparis. 

Ccdrela odorata, use of. in ve- 
neers, 96; other uses of, 224. 

Cedrus, 224. 

Cellulose, 200. 

Ceylon, peach in, 79; rubber-tree 
in, 218-219. 

Chamcecyparis thyoides, 260; noot- 
Tcatensis, 261. 

Champak. See Michelia cham- 
paca. 



INDEX 



277 



Charcoal, how obtained, 184, 
208; uses of, 209. 

Cherry. See Primus serotina. 

Chesapeake Bay, forestry near, 
22. 

Chestnut. See Castanea. 

Chinkapin oak. See Quercus acu- 
minata. 

Chocolate. See Theobroma cacao. 

Christmas trees, 209. 

Cieslar, quoted, 110. 

Cigar-boxes, how made, 96, 224. 

Cinchona, 220. 

Ginnamonvum camphora, 222. 

Cleaning, defined, 143. 

Clear-cutting system of regener- 
ation, 138. 

Cloves, 213. 

Coconut palm. See Cocos nuci- 
fera. 

Cocos nucifera, products of, 48- 
50, 75; seeds of, 101; wood 
from, 214; milk from, 220. 

Coffea, how grown, 21, 128. 

Coffee. See Coffea. 

Cola-nut, 216. 

Colorado, loco-weed in, 177 n. ; 
reservations in, 239-240. 

Colorado River, Grand Canyon 
of the, 236. 

Columbian lava, 242. 

Compo-board, 184. 

Coniferw, distribution of, 78, 82; 
in the Adirondacks, 130; repre- 
sentative species in the United 
States, 252-262. 

Cooper, J. F., quoted, 202. 

Coppice, defined, 129; system of 
regeneration, 134, 140-142. 

Coral reefs, vegetation on, 48, 
51. 

Cork, 209. 

Corn, used as fuel, 187. 

Cornell University College of 
Forestry. See New York State 
College of Forestry. 

Cottonwood. See Populus del- 
toides. 

Cow dung, used as fuel, 187. 



Crater Lake, 243. 

Crop, forest, 6, 12; rotation of, 
17, 55. 

Crown, of tree, defined, 33; im- 
portance of, 147. 

Cuba, cedar from, 96, 224; ma- 
hogany in, 225. 

Cuttings, propagation by, 44, 
116, 118. 

Cypress, bald. See Taxodium 
disticlium. 

" Damping off," 174. 

Decoy trees, 168. 

Deer, in forests, 22, 31, 170. 

Deforestation, defined, 5. 

Denmark, spruce in, 94, 110. 

Deserts, character of, 83. 

Dibble, 116. 

Diospyros, seeds of, 75; wood of, 

223. 
Diseases of trees, 88, 173-174. 
Dismal Swamp, nature of, 46- 

47; character of water in, 65. 
Distillation, destructive, of 

wood, 207-209. 
Douglas fir. See Pseudotsuga 

taxi folia. 
Drainage, by tree-planting, 61; 

of swamps, 97; as lessening 

danger from frost, 162. 
Drought, effect of, 163-164. 
Duff, 52, 97, 114. 
Dunes, 56. 

Dust, as disease carrier, 66. 
Dyewoods, 221. 

Earthworms, functions of, in 

forest growth, 2, 52. 
East Indies, seeds from the, 77. 
Ebony. See Diospyros. 
Egyptian mummy cases, seeds 

from, 103. 
Elm. See Ulmus. 
Erosion, effect of forests on, 57- 

58, 60. 
ErytTirina umbrosa, in Trinidad, 

215. 
Eskimo customs, 186. 



278 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



Estates, landed, 26-31. 

Esterel, France, forests in, 153, 

Eucalyptus, in California, 17, 73 

moisture demanded by, 61 

sanitary influence of, 66; 

method of growing, 128; value 

of, 220; diver sicolor, 42; ros- 

trata, 95. 
Eugenia pimenta, 213. 
Europe, forestry methods in, 19- 

20, 178, 182-183. 
Exotics, 72-74, 93. 
Experiment stations, forest, in 

California, 249. 

Fagots, use of, for land protec- 
tion, 99; use of, as fuel, 182- 
83. 

Fagus atropunicea, 265. 

Fascine, defined, 183. 

Fashion in woods, 95. 

Fences, on farms, 24; in forests, 
31. 

Fernow, Dr., quoted, 8. 

Ferns, in tropics, 80. 

Fertilizers, 14; made from wood 
ashes, 121-122, 183-184. 

Ficus bengalensis, propagation of, 
44. 

Finland, spruce and fir in, 110. 

Fir, balsam. See Abies balsamea. 

Fir, Douglas. See Pseudotsuga 
taxifolia. 

Fire, effect of, on forests, 85; 
protection against, 151-161, 
181. 

Fire-lanes, 155-159. 

Fish, benefited by freshets, 63; 
injured by logging, 192. 

Floods, 58-63. 

Florida keys, how formed, 48. 

Florida, pineapple in, 123. 

Flour, chestnut, 210. 

Forbes, H. O., quoted, 216. 

Forest, defined, 1-2; ideal con- 
dition of a, 37, 70; pure and 
mixed, 91-92. 

Forestry, Bureau of. See United 
States Bureau of Forestry. 



Forestry, defined, 1-3; essentials 

of, 8; relation of State and 

Federal Governments to, 9-11; 

value of, to farmers, 24-26. 
Formosa, camphor industry in, 

222. 
Fox, in Alaska, 31. 
France, forestry in, 19. 
Fraxinus americana, 269. 
French Canadian, as workman, 

193. 
Frost, damage from, 80-81, 161- 

163. 
Froude, quoted, 8. 
Fuel, 25, 184-185, 187. 
Fungi, relation of, to forestry, 

2, 37, 38, 52, 144, 165, 173-174. 

Gallatin Reservation, 241. 

Gamboge, how obtained, 221. 

Game, 28, 31. 

Oarcina, 222. 

Gascony, forestry in, 17; sands 
in, 56; resin production in, 205- 
206. 

Geographical distribution, of 
forests, 69-74; of forest reser- 
vations, 230-231. 

Georgia, fires in, 193. 

Georgia pine. See Pinus palus- 
tris. 

Germany, forestry in, 19, 67-68. 

Germination, 102; percentage of, 
106, 111-113. 

Gila Reservation, 237. 

Gipsy-moth, 167. 

Girdling, 135-136, 168. 

Glacial epoch, 81. 

Glaciers, on Mount Rainier, 244- 
245. 

Goats, damage caused by, 171. 

Governmental protection of for- 
ests, 9-11, 17-18, 150, 159. 

Grand Canyon of the Colorado 
River, 236. 

Grasses, their troublesome na- 
ture, 177. 

Grazing, injurious effects of, 87- 
88, 169-173. 



INDEX 



2T9 



Great Britain, lauded estates in, 

27; forest destruction in, 66. 
Ouajacum sanctum, 223. 
Guao. See Rhus metopium. 
Gum. See Eucalyptus. 
Gum, red. See Liquidambar. 
Gypsy-moth. See Gipsy-moth. 

Hackmatack. See Larix. 

Hwmatoxylon campechianum, 221. 

Hail, effect of, 165. 

Hamamelis virginiana, pod of, 76. 

Hard-pan, 84-85. 

Hardwoods, ashes of, 121-122, 
183-184; in the Adirondacks, 
130; effect of frost on„162-163; 
as fuel, 184; representative 
species of, in the United 
States, 262-272. 

Hawaiian Islands. See Sand- 
wich Islands. 

Heat, effect of, 163-164. 

Hemlock. See Tsuga. 

Hevea brazilensis, 217-219. 

Hickory. See Hicoria. 

Hicoria, use of, for ax handles, 
187; ovata, 266-267; pecan, 267. 

Hop-hornbeam. See Ostrya vir- 
giniana. 

Hornets, as paper-makers, 198. 

Humification, 37, 46-47, 52-53; 
prevented by fire, 157. 

Hungary, locust in, 73. 

Hitra crepitans, seeds of, 76. 

Hurst method of regeneration, 
131-132. 

Hutchins, D. E., quoted, 66. 

Hyacinth, water, 54. 

Hyphce, mycelial, 39. 

Idaho, reservations in, 242. 
Ilang-ilang. See Cananga odo- 

rata. 
Illinois nut. See Hicoria pecan. 
Implements, foresters', 115-116, 

128. 
Increment, defined, 41. 
•India, forestry in, 7, 212-213; 

teak in, 223. 



Indians, American, and the ma- 
ple sugar industry, 201. 

Indies. See East Indies; West 
Indies. 

Insect pests, 88, 166-169. 

Irrigation, in the Black Forest, 
64; in New Mexico, 237; in 
Utah, 239. 

Italy, forestry in, 20; scarcity of 
wood in, 186. 

Ivy, poison. See Rlius toxicoden- 
dron. 

Jamaica, allspice in, 213-214. 

Java, teak in, 21, 223. 

Juglans nigra, shells of, 104; in 

the United States, 265-266. 
Jungle, defined, 5-6. 
Juniper. See Juniperus. 
Juni perns virginiana. range of, 

71-72; in the United States, 

260. 
Jutland, spruce in, 94; fir in, 

110. 

Kadiak, blue fox near, 31. 
Kanari trees. See Canarium 

commune. 
Karri. See Eucalyptus. 
Knapp, Professor, quoted, 21. 

Lagoons, soil formation in, 54. 

Lake Tahoe Reservation, 232. 

Lancewood, 223. 

Land, vacant, in the United 
States, 246-247. 

Landscape gardening, 29-32. 

Landslides, prevented by for- 
ests, 57. 

Larch. See Larix. 

Larix, laricina, 259; occidentalis, 
260. 

Lava, Columbian. See Colum- 
bian lava. 

Layering, natural. 105. 

Leaves, as food for cattle, 170- 
171. 

Lecythis zabucajo, 214. 

Legislation, fire, 161. 



280 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



Leguminosce, seeds of, 86; bene- 
fits from, 175-176. 
Light, as related to species, 35- 

36, 147. 
Lignurn-vitae. See Guajacum 

sanctum. 
Limestone regions, action of 

roots in, 51. 
Linden. See Tilia. 
Liquidamoar, flavor of, 88; styra- 

ciflua, 268. 
Liriodendron tulipifera, in Eu- 
rope, 93; use of, 199; in the 

United States, 268. 
Litter, 37-38; decomposition of, 

46, 52-53. 
Live oak. See Quercus virgin- 

iana. 
Locomotives, as cause of forest 

fires, 151. 
Loco-weed. See Astragalus mol- 

Ussimus. 
Locust. See RoMnia pseudacacia. 
Logging, 190-193. 
Logwood. See Hwmatoxylon 

campecManum. 
Lumber, defined, 4; industry, 

186-198. 
Lupinus, 175. 

Mace, how obtained, 216. 

McKinley National Park, pro- 
posed, 249-250. 

Madera, transportation of tim- 
ber to, 195-196. 

Magnolia, flowers of, 209. 

Mahogany. See Sivietenia maho- 
goni. 

Mahwa-tree. See Bassia lattfo 
lia. 

Maine, blueberry in, 152. 

Malaria, where found, 65; how 
caused, 167. 

Mangosteen. See Oarcina. 

Mangrove. See Rhizophora man- 
gle. 

Mangrove, black. See Avicennia 
nitida. 

Manure, 14, 121. 



Maple. See Acer. 
Maple sugar, 23, 201-204. 
Mariposa Park, 232. 
Massachusetts, gipsy-moth in, 

167. 
Melard, M., quoted, 171. 
Meliacew, 212. 
Mexico, coffee plantations in, 

21; rubber in, 219. 
Michelia champaca, 213. 
Milk, from coconut albumen, 

220. 
Mimusops oalata, 219. 
Minnesota, forest fire in, 151; 

proposed national park in, 251. 
Mississippi bad lands, improve- 
ment of, 98. 
Mistletoe. See Razoumofskya. 
Moisture, in relation to trees, 

82-83. 
Moluccas, cloves from the, 213. 
Mongoos, injury caused by, 166- 

167. 
" Monkey-pot," 214. 
" Monkey's dinner-bell," 76. 
Montana, reservations in, 242. 
Moose, influence of, on trees, 88. 
Mormons, as irrigators, 239. 
Morus, eaten by silkworms, 20, 

89; eaten by animals, 88, 170; 

propagation of, 118; paper 

made from, 201. 
Mosquito, as disease carrier, 

167. 
Mount Rainier Reservation, 229, 

243-245. 
Mulberry. See Morus. 
Mummy cases, seeds from, 103. 
Munson, W. M., quoted, 152. 
Musk-nut. See Nutmeg. 
Mycorrhiza, 39. 
Myricacew, 212. 
Myrtle Family. See Myricacece. 

National parks, 10, 228-229. 
Naval stores' industry, 204. 
Negro, as forest workman, 194. 
New Mexico, forest reservations 
in, 237-238. 



INDEX 



281 



Newspapers, paper pulp used 
for, 198-200. 

New York State College of For- 
estry, importation of plants 
by, 119-120; method of plant- 
ing, 127-128 ; reservation in the 
Adirondaeks, 248-249. 

Nile, floods of the, 62. 

North America, division of, ac- 
cording to forest conditions, 
226-228. 

North Carolina, proposed na- 
tional park in, 249-250. 

Norway pine. See Pinus resino- 
sa. 

Nurse trees, 20-21, 106, 123, 128, 
215. 

Nurseries, 120-125. 

Nutmeg, 215-216. 

Nuts, how disseminated, 75-76, 
104-105; in the United States, 
209; defined, 215. 

Oak. See Quercus. 
GGcology, defined, 137. 
Okeefeenokee Swamp, 46. 
Olympic Reservation, 245. 
Opossum, as seed disseminator, 

75. 
Oregon, reservations in, 242- 

243. 
Ostrya virginiana, seeds of, 74. 

" Paardenfleisch," 219. 

Panama rubber, 219. 

Paper pulp, from spruce, 180; 

quantity consumed, 198-201. 
Para rubber, 217-218. 
Parasitic plants, 173-174. 
Parks, national. See National 

parks. 
Pasturage, in forests, 8, 22-23, 

87-88, 169-173. 
Paulownia, 73. 
Peach. See Prunus persica. 
Peat-beds, 38, 52, 97. 
Pecan. See Hicoria pecan. 
Pecos River Reservation, 237. 
Pennsylvania, pine in, 18-19; 



purchase of forest lands by, 
249. 

Perigord, France, truffles in, 22. 

Persimmon. See Diospyros. 

Peruvian bark, 220. 

Philippine Islands, ebony in the, 
223; forestry service in the, 
247-248. 

Picea, cultivation of, 13; in Sax- 
ony, 92; paper pulp from, 92, 
180, 198-199; varieties of, 93- 
94; in Denmark, 94, 110; how 
propagated, 105; canadensis, 94, 
256; mariana, 255; engelmanni, 
257; sitchensis, 257. 

Pigs, use of, in forestry, 114. 

Pike's Peak Reservation, 240. 

Pimento. See Eugenia pimenta. 

Pinchot, G., quoted, 172. 

Pine. See Pinus. 

Pineapple. See Anana sativa. 

Pines, Isle of, 48, 248; guao in, 
177. 

Pinus, in Europe, 92-93; strobus, 
18, 102, 148, 188-189, 252; pa- 
lustris, 160, 254; resinosa, 253; 
echinata, 254; heteropliylla, 254; 
taeda, 255; ponderosa, 255; lam- 
bcrtiana, 255. 

Plains, western, 14, 227. 

Planting, 116-127. 

Pocomoke River, Md., limit of 
bald-cypress, 72. 

Poisonous plants, 176-177. 

Pollarding, 142, 182-183. 

Poplar. See Populus. 

Populus, fagots from, 19, 182; 
distribution of, 74; used for 
cigar-boxes, 96; as nurse tree, 
106; propagation of, 118; use 
of, in paper-making, 199; trem- 
uloidcs, 82; deltoides, 271. 

Porcupine-wood, 215. 

Porto Rico, coffee plantations 
in, 21; forests in, 248. 

Posts, 19. 

Prairies, 14-15, 169, 227. 

Precipitation, effect of forests 
on, 59. 



282 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



Prescott Reservation, 238. 
Protection, forest, 150-177. 
Pruning, defined, 144. 
Prunus, persica, 79; serotina, 

267. 
Pseudotsuga taxifolia, in Europe, 

73, 93; in the United States, 

106-107, 257. 
Pulp, uses of, 184, 198-201. 
Pyrenees, wattlework in the, 57- 

58. 
Pyroligneous acid. See Acetic 

acid. 

Quebracho-wood, use of, in tan- 
ning, 207. 

Quercus, method of regeneration, 
140; use of bark in tanning, 
140, 206; cork from, 209; rubra, 
73, 93, 264; alba, 262; mi- 
chauxii, 263; acuminata, 263; 
virginiana, 263; densiflora, 263; 
prinus, 264; macrocarpa, 264; 
platanoides, 264. 

Quinin, 220. 

Rafn, J., quoted, 109, 112. 

Railroads, and forests, 155-156, 
160. 

Rainfall, influence of forests on, 
59; damage caused by, 165. 

Rainier, Mount. See Mount Rai- 
nier. 

Razoumofskya, 174. 

Redwood. See Sequoia. 

Reforestation, defined, 5; how 
secured, 15. 

Refuse, utilization of, 178-186. 

Regeneration of forests, 91; arti- 
ficial, 99-129; natural, 129- 
133; systems of, 134-142. 

Reservations, forest, in the 
United States, 172-173, 228- 
246. 

Resin, how obtained, 204-206. 

Rhine delta, 58. 

Rhizomes, of weeds, 176. 

RhizopJiora mangle, as land form- 
er, 48^9. 



Rhus, toxicodendron, 176; vene- 
nata, 176; metopium, 111. 

Ribbentrop, quoted, 7. 

Ring, annual, 40. 

River-driving, 190-192. 

Roads, forest, 30, 159. 

RoMnia pseudacacia, in Europe, 
71, 73, 93; seeds of, 102; uses 
of, 160; in the United States, 
268. 

Rocks, disintegration of, 51. 

Rome, sanitary condition of, 66. 

Romero of Mexico, quoted, 27. 

Root-fibrils, functions of, 38. 

Roots, as soil formers, 51; as 
soil fixers, 57. 

Rope, made from bark, 209. 

Rosin. See Resin. 

Rotation, in forestry, 17, 55. 

Roth, F., 246. 

Rubber. See Castilloa elastica; 
Hevea brazilensis. 

Rust, 174. 

Salix, in basketry, 16, 20, 23; as 
soil former, 50-51; as soil fixer, 
58; propagation of, 76, 118, 
126; pollarding of, 183. 

Sand-box-tree. See Hura crepi- 
tans. 

Sands, shifting, 56-57; fixation 
of, 97-98. 

Sandwich Islands, candle-nut in 
the, 220. 

San Francisco Mountains Reser- 
vation, 237. 

Sanitary functions of forests, 
65-68. 

Sapucaia-nut. See Lceythis zabu- 
cajo. 

Savanna land, how formed, 84. 

Sawmills, 187-188; portable, 195; 
in the West, 197. 

Saxony, forestry in, 16; spruce 
in, 92, 199. 

Schuberg, Professor, quoted, 
149. 

Scrub, defined, 5. 

Seed, collection of, 32; germina- 



INDEX 



283 



tion of, on trees, 48; dissemina- 
tion of, 74-76; methods of sow- 
ing, 100, 113-116; hints on 
choosing and testing, 101-113. 

Seed years, 37, 87. 

Selection system of regenera- 
tion, 134-138. 

Sequoia, range of, 81; coppice of, 
141 ; washingtoniana, 233-235 ; 
sempervirens, 261. 

Shade, in forests, uses of, 36. 

Shagbark. See Hicoria ovata. 

Sheep, as land clearers, 88, 156; 
use of, in sowing, 115; damage 
caused by, 171-173. 

Shelter trees. See Nurse" trees. 

Shoshone Falls, 242. 

Silkworm, 89. 

Silva, defined, 3. 

Silviculture. See Forestry. 

Sirup, maple. See Maple sugar. 

Sitka spruce. See Picea sitchen- 
sis. 

Slash, cause of fires, 159; re- 
moval of, 181. 

Smilax, damage caused by, 176. 

Snow, as protector, 106; damage 
caused by, 165-166. 

Soil, classified, 15-16; formed by 
forests, 46-51; improved by 
forests, 51-56; fixed by forests, 
56-58; reclamation of, 96-97. 

South Dakota, reservations in, 
240-241. 

South, lumbering in the, 193- 
195. 

Sowing, 100, 114-116, 122-123. 

Sparrow, English, damage caused 
by, 169. 

Species, geographical distribu- 
tion of, 69-74; choice of, for 
planting, 94-96. 

Sphagnum moss, use of, in 
nurseries, 124. 

Spice Islands, nutmeg groves in 
the, 216. 

Spruce. See Picea. 

Squirrel, as seed disseminator, 
75, 104. 



Staked Plains, 238. 

Stand, defined, 2. 

Standard, defined, 141-142. 

Starch, made from carbon diox- 
id, 36. 

State, relation of, to forestry, 
9-11, 150, 159, 248-249. 

Stumpage, defined, 4-5. 

Successive cutting system of re- 
generation, 139-140. 

Sugar-bush, 5, 23. 

Sugar, maple. See Maple sugar. 

Sumac. See Rhus. 

Swamps, how formed, 46-51; 
how improved, 96-97; logging 
in, 194-195. 

Sweet-gum. See Liquidamoar. 

Sicictenia mahogoni, 224. 

Symbiosis, 38. 

Syrup, maple. See Maple su- 
gar. 

Tahoe, Lake. See Lake Tahoe. 
Tamarack. See Larix. 
Tanning materials, 140, 206-207. 
Tapping, of maple-trees, 201- 

204. 
Tar, how obtained, 208-209. 
Taxodium distichum, 47, 72, 259. 
Teak. See Tectonia grandis. 
Teetonia grandis, in Java, 21; 

value of wood, 187, 223. 
Telephones, in forests, 154. 
Temperature, effect of, on vege- 
tation, 78-82. 
Tennessee, proposed national 

park in, 249-250. 
Testing of seed, 108-113. 
Thcobroma cacao, how grown, 21, 

129; in Trinidad, 215. 
Thinning, 145-150. 
Thuja, as soil former, 51; occi- 

dentalis, 261; plicata, 261. 
Tilia, seeds of, 74; americana, 

271. 
Timber, defined, 4; industry, 

186-198. 
Timber-line, 78. 
Torf-beds. See Peat-beds. 



284 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY 



Traction engine, use of, in for- 
estry, 196-197. 

Transpiration of trees, 61. 

Transplanting, 124-128. 

Trees, classified as to light re- 
lationships, 35-36; parts of, 
39^1; age of, 43-44. 

Trinidad, chocolate in, 215. 

Tropics, continuous growth in 
the, 79; resources of the, 211- 
224. 

Truffles, 22. 

Tsuga, effect of light on, 164; 
value of wood, 187; tannic 
acid from, 206-207; canadensis, 
258; mertensiana, 259. 

Tulip-tree. See Liriodendron tu- 
lipifera. 

Turkeys, wild, in forests, 32. 

Turpentine, how obtained, 204- 
206. 

Uintah Reservation, 238-239. 

Ulmns americana, 270. 

United States, as forest regula- 
tor, 10-11, 17-18; as seed dis- 
tributor, 76-77; forest reserva- 
tions in the, 226-246; conifers 
and hardwoods in the, 252- 
273. 

United States Bureau of For- 
estry, work of, 18; publication 
on big trees, 234-235. 

Utah, reservations in, 238-239. 

Vanderbilt estate, Biltmore, 27. 

Veneers, 96, 164. 

Vermont, maple sugar industry 

in, 201. 
Vinegar. See Acetic acid. 
Virgin forest, defined, 5. 

Walnut, black. See Juglans 
nigra. 



Washington, reservations in, 
243-245. 

Waste. See Refuse. 

Waste lands, defined, 16. 

Water hyacinth, 54. 

Water supply, as affected by for- 
ests, 65. 

Wattle scrub, 86. 

Wattlework, 57-58, 97-98. 

Weeds, in forests, 14, 89, 174- 
177. 

West Indies, planting in the, 77. 

West, lumbering in the, 195-197. 

Wheat seed, from mummy cases, 
103. 

Whitewood. See Liriodendron 
tulipifera. 

Whitney's guide-book, quoted, 
233. 

Wich-hazel. See Hamamelis vir- 
giniana. 

Willis, B., quoted, 244. 

Willow. See Salix. 

Wind, as cause of dunes, 56-57; 
checked by forests, 63; effect 
of, on forests, 85, 164-165. 

Wind Cave, Black Hills Reser- 
vation, 241. 

Witch-broom, 173. 

Witch-hazel. See Hamamelis 
virginiana. 

Wood, how formed, 39^t2; func- 
tion of, 42; uses of, 197. 

W T ood alcohol. See Alcohol. 

Wyoming, reservations in, 240- 
241. 

Yellowstone National Park, 229, 

240-241. 
Yosemite National Park, 232- 

235. 

Zanzibar, cloves from, 213. 
Zittel, K., as mountaineer, 244. 



(1) 



THE END 



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